The Prayer of faith Is Not An “Abracadabra” for Healing

What is the most important thing that a persecuted and suffering church can do? The answer is so obvious that we easily overlook it. Pray!

In the final verses of his epistle, James wraps up with an exhortation to the suffering Christians of the Dispersion to seek the power of God through prayer. James reminds them that prayer is the means through which God sustains his people, especially during times of great trial. Sadly, many in our day have turned James’s exhortation to pray for healing into a mantra through which God will supposedly heal all of our diseases–if only we dare claim what is rightfully ours. Instead of seeing James’s exhortation to pray as the means through which God sustains us in the midst of our trials, faith-healers, and prosperity gospelers have turned James’s words into a magical “abracadabra” supposedly enabling us to “claim our miracle.”

It always amazes me that persecuted Jewish Christians to whom James is writing would never understood James in this way, yet prosperous Americans, who have never known a moment of persecution in their lives, take James to be promising them health and wealth. But what James is doing is reminding persecuted Christians that God has heard their cries, and that he stands ever ready to help in time of need. All we need do is ask.

Wrapping Up

With this post, we conclude our series on the Book of James as we make our way through the final verses of chapter five. I hope this series has been as helpful and interesting to you as it has been to me. There is much here for us and I hope you now feel as at home in the Book of James as you do in the letters of Paul.

While some have thought that the Book of James is nothing more than warmed over Jewish legalism, we have seen how that sentiment could not be further from the truth. James does not contradict Paul when it comes to justification. When interpreted correctly, James reminds us of the importance of good works, as well as the need for us to be more than mere “hearers” of the word. In fact, James has taught us that it is God who brings us forth (from death to life) through the preached word which he implants within us, thereby ensuring that we hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

James exhorts struggling Christians to draw near to God, because James knows God’s promise that God will draw near to us whenever we seek his face. James reminds that when we humble ourselves, God responds by exalting us. James tells us that whenever we seek God’s grace, God is willing to give us even more grace. James is very clear that from beginning to end, the Christian life is grounded in the grace of God, who has promised to see us through all of the trials of life. The way in which God sees us through the trials of life is through prayer, the subject of this exposition.

Waiting Patiently

As we turn to the final section of James 5, we pick up with verse 12, which we briefly considered last time. Then we’ll take up James’s discussion of prayer, beginning in verse 13. One of the difficulties in interpreting the Book of James can be seen with verses like this which seem disconnected from what has gone before or comes after. It is hard to tell whether verse 12 goes with the preceding–James’s warning to those rich landowners who were exploiting Jewish Christians who were forced to leave Jerusalem to seek safety in areas to the north and east of the city–or does it go with what follows, “above all” being James directive that not swearing an oath is the most important exhortation in this letter.

As displaced refugees, many of James’s readers were now forced to eke out a living, finding themselves at the mercy of those landowners who were, apparently, withholding wages from these refugees. After reminding his readers that Jesus’s return was imminent–hence, God’s judgment was soon to come upon those who persecuted God’s people–James tells them that they should wait patiently for the Lord, because in the meantime believers can surely count upon the Lord’s compassion and mercy to sustain them in the midst of their trials. Since James’s readers are largely Jewish converts to Christianity, they knew the story of Job, as well as the history of Israel’s prophets who had suffered greatly at the hands of their own people. Those who know the Old Testament know that God is always faithful to his suffering people, just as he will be faithful to those to whom James is writing.

Let Your “Yes” Be “Yes”

It is in this context that James can say, “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your `yes’ be yes and your `no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” Most translations tie verse 12 to the preceding. I tend to agree, because if you tie this verse to what follows, you have James wrapping up his epistle in saying, “above all else,” don’t swear an oath. But that is hardly the most important things James has to say. I take James 1:22 to be the thesis statement for the entire letter. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” So, it seems much better to see James 5:12 as the conclusion of the previous section dealing with the need to be patient until the Lord returns.[1]

James’s words echo the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:34-37.

“But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

But are James and Jesus actually forbidding us from taking any sort of an oath, under any circumstances? Not likely. James’s point is that in light of the exhortation for Christians to be patient while waiting for the Lord’s return, Christians should not rashly make oaths as this would be a manifestation of impatience–the opposite of waiting patiently for the Lord’s return. Nor should Christians “swear” in connection to such oaths. This is not a reference to crude speech (“swearing”), but to invoking God’s name as some sort of character reference when taking an oath–“in the name of God I swear that I am telling the truth.”

Some Anabaptist groups take James to be forbidding all oaths, hence their refusal to swear oaths in civil courts or serve in the military. But the context seems to indicate that both James and Jesus are not dealing with “official oaths” (i.e., those oaths tied to civic duties). Instead, it appears that this is a reference to personal oaths which people were taking under duress, invoking the name of God to give that personal oath much more credibility. This would explain why James exhorts his readers to simply let their “yes” be “yes,” and their “no,” be “no.” Why should a Christian who is committed to truth-telling need to supplement their “yes” or “no” with an oath invoking the name of God? James and Jesus are exhorting Christians to be truth-tellers, which shouldn’t require some sort of personal oath to give the truth some extra weight. Christians shouldn’t need to invoke the Lord’s name, if their own word is truthful.

If James 5:12 is an exhortation which caps off his discussion of the blessing which awaits God’s people when the Judge (Jesus) returns, along with the warning of curse to those wealthy landowners who were persecuting the people of God, then verse 13 opens the final section of James’s epistle, which is an exhortation for Christians to seek the power of God during difficult times through prayer, especially in regards to matters related to personal health and physical healing.

Considering the circumstances under which James is writing this would be expected since many in James’s audience were destitute, and struggling to get by. The daily troubles faced by persecuted Christian refugees would take a great toll on both body and soul. Those to whom James is writing need to be reminded of God’s great power in accomplishing his will for his people, no matter what their current circumstances. The way in which people seek God’s aid during trial is through prayer.

The Question of Suffering

In verse 13, James asks the critical question which frames the concluding verses. “Is anyone among you suffering?” The word translated “suffering” means something like “enduring hardship.” The focus is not so much upon physical suffering–although physical suffering is certainly included–as it is the kind of suffering that the righteous must endure which comes from the hand of the wicked. These hardships include economic troubles, along with the related maladies of a persecuted people including physical illness and emotional distress.

The obvious answer to James’s rhetorical question (is anyone suffering?) is “yes.” The solution, James says is, “Let him pray.” In Ephesians 6:16, Paul makes a similar point–“pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” From other comments made by James–i.e., in 1:2-4; 12, 5:7-11–James is not instructing people to petition God to remove their various trials. Rather, James is instructing us to ask that God would grant us what is necessary so as to understand our trials in the right way. Our prayer should be that God will help us gain the right attitude so that we trust in his purposes, knowing that God will somehow turn these difficult trials to good.[2] James is exhorting believers to ask God to give them strength to endure whatever God sends their way. James is not teaching us how to claim our miracle, or to bind the demon of whatever it is that is troubling us.

While many of James’s readers are enduring very difficult hardships, many of them have peace of mind in the midst of these difficult times. And so James can ask, “is anyone cheerful?” Those who have a sense that God has allowed these trials for a reason, and that God has given them the spiritual strength to endure them, are to likewise make the appropriate response of faith. “Let him sing praise.” Christians should not only be in the habit of praying for God’s grace and help whenever they encounter difficult times, but Christians should also be in the habit of giving praise to God whenever they consider that God is working all things–including their trials–for good.

This is the prayer-praise cycle which should characterize the Christian life. Christians are to pray constantly, offering petitions unto the Lord requesting his grace and mercy to help them through their trials. Also Christians are to offer words (songs) of praise unto the Lord, which is the response from someone who trusts that God will see them through every one of life’s difficult circumstances. This what the Heidelberg Catechism is getting at when it speaks of the Christian life as one of gratitude–the offering up of both prayers and praises because of all that God has done for us in Christ.

The Healing of the Sick

In verses 14-15, James now turns to one of the most common occasions when Christians seek the power of God through prayer, and that is when illness strikes. James asks, “is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Sadly, this is one of the most distorted verses in all the New Testament, as Word-Faith devotees have turned these verses into a mantra for healing, which if spoken correctly, and without any doubting, supposedly guarantees immediate recovery. There is nothing more destructive than to tell a sick and suffering person that it is God’s will for them to be healed, provided they have sufficient faith. When the healing doesn’t come, the sick person is blamed for not having enough faith, or for having some hidden sin in their lives which prevents God from healing them.

Not only is this not what James is saying, but the Word-Faith notion of healing is nothing more than a sinful tantrum. “God heal me right now–you promised!” First off, the word translated “sick” is used throughout the New Testament in reference to all kinds of conditions–including mental ability (Romans 6:19), someone’s spiritual condition (Romans 5:6), someone’s physical appearance (2 Corinthians 10:10), as well as to someone’s physical condition. The word has the sense of “being weak,” and is not limited to a physical illness, although it includes sickness.[3] So, when James asks, “is anyone among you weak?” he’s speaking of the effects of persecution and difficult times upon the body–this includes sickness, as well as emotional distress.

Pastors and Elders – Not Celebrity Televangelists

Notice that the sick person is not commanded to pray for themselves, although they can, but to summon the elders, who are to pray over them. This tells us that the apostolic church (even as early as the mid-fortie sof the first century), was ruled by elders (“Presbyterian” church government). No question that the elders were men who were well grounded in the Christian faith who watched over a congregation’s life and doctrine. The frequent mention of elders throughout the churches of the New Testament (who were to shepherd their flocks–cf. Acts 20:28) tell us that pastors and elders were also assigned the task of comforting those in crisis. Whatever James will tell us about prayer and healing, the context in which these things should take place, is the local church and its officers, not a stadium filled with a gazillion people being whooped up into a frenzy by some celebrity-like evangelist who blows on people and makes them fall over. Such is much more likely to be halitosis than the power of God.

While Paul speaks of a supernatural gift of healing, James seems to tie healing to the prayers of church officers. How do we reconcile these two different approaches? For one thing, when Paul speaks of gifts of miracles and healing in 1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, I take him to be referring to those extra-ordinary gifts of the Spirit which were closely associated to the office of apostle. When the apostles planted new churches, they did not ordain new apostles. Rather, they ordained ministers, elders, and deacons. The ministers and elders were to rule in the name of Christ, while the deacons were to display God’s mercy to his people. It is also important to notice that James does not restrict prayer for healing only to the ministers and elders–in fact, in verse 16, James speaks of the role all believers play in praying for the sick. James’s exhortation to those who are sick certainly seems to imply that the person who needs prayer for sickness or physical weakness is sick/weak enough that the elders need to come to their home or sickbed. This implies the laying on of hands which likely accompanied the prayer for the sick. It has long been part of Reformed pastoral practice that ministers and elders visit those who are sick, both to pray for them and with them, and to offer a word of God’s assurance in light of the doubt that often accompanies illness.

Anointing of the Sick

What are we to make of James’s exhortation that elders are to anoint the sick with oil at the time of prayer? The only other time this practice is even mentioned in the New Testament is in Mark 6:13, where we read that the apostles “cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” Neither Mark nor James offer any specifics about the practice.

There have been four main suggestions as to what this anointing with oil means. Some see a medicinal purpose–oil was often poured on wounds and other injuries. The idea is that Christians use medicine and prayer at the time of sickness. Others see the oil as an outward sign–just as Jesus used mud, spittle, and other tangible things when he healed. Some see a sacramental purpose in the use of oil. The Greek church has utilized this practice from ancient times, and the Roman church sees the application of oil as a sacrament performed by a priest at the time of death (extreme unction)–the anointing of oil being the sign of the removal of sins and the strengthening of the soul before death. Vatican II calls this the “anointing of the sick,” and is now part of Roman Catholic pastoral practice. Still others see the anointing with oil as symbolic of the consecration (setting apart) of a person or thing for God’s redemptive purposes. Luther, Calvin, and many Reformed theologians (Warfield, being one) believe that this act of anointing with oil was tied to the apostolic power to heal, so the practice passed away with the close of the apostolic period.[4]

An Act of Consecration

Now, without going into all the arguments for or against each of these positions, it seems to me that the evidence is far and away the strongest for seeing the practice of anointing with oil as a sign of consecration. That many others were healed throughout the New Testament without the use of oil seems to indicate that James is referring to some sort of symbolic act, which is not in any sense necessary for healing to actually take place. But let us not miss the forest through the trees. What is clear is James’s stress upon having both the elders (and pastors) and others in the church pray for the sick–with the expectation that if these prayers are offered in faith, God will “save” the one who is sick and then raise them up. No doubt, James’s words here reflect the various accounts throughout the gospels, where Jesus heals someone, and they were raised up from their sickbed as evidence of the fact that they were healed.

There are a couple of things here of interest. James does not use the normal word for prayer which appears throughout the New Testament (proseuchomai). Instead, James uses the rare word “euche,” which can mean either a vow, or a fervent wish. James is not setting forth some iron-clad principle of healing. He is telling us that when those who pray for the sick, do so, fervently desiring that the person for whom they are praying be healed, if it be his will, God will heal them (the word to save can also refer to physical healing) and then raise them up from their sick beds.

A Prayer Offered “In Faith”

The critical clause is that prayer “offered in faith,” which implies not a demand on our part that God make good on his promise to heal, but that those who pray are humbly asking that God’s will and purposes be accomplished in and through the person’s suffering. And if it be God’s will, that prayer, fervently offered, can and does bring about physical healing. A prayer offered in faith is not a mantra, nor a demand. It is simply and humbly asking God for what we need, with the knowledge that God is always faithful to us in the midst of our trials.

There is an echo in James’s words from the opening verses of Psalm 38

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

When we are sick, our default setting is that God is punishing us for our sins. That is why James connects healing to the forgiveness of sins.

This fits with the final clause of the verse “and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” No question that all sickness stems from human sin. That said, it is impossible to trace all illnesses to specific sins. There is no spiritual principle here of “stepping on a crack and breaking your mother’s back.” We get sick because we are sinful, not necessarily because we may have committed some specific sin which made God mad at us, so he caused us to get some particular illness. Whatever illnesses we suffer are tied to God’s mysterious providential purposes for our lives. The person in the sickbed needs to know that if they are in Christ, all their sins are forgiven. Such an absolution may indeed bring about physical healing, a point confirmed in verse 16. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

When believers confess their sins, each to the other, and when believers pray for each other, God works in powerful ways. Too many times, we have seen people tie the power of God to some sort of weird religious experience–that James is supposedly referring to God’s power as something we experience directly. Rather, James is speaking of God’s power as his ability to heal us from our illnesses. It also must be said that any physical healing is tied to Christ’s priestly work for us on the cross in taking away the guilt of our sins. God has promised all of us complete and total healing, if not in this life, then certainly on the day of resurrection.

The Righteous Man (or Woman)

Furthermore, when James speaks of a righteous man, he’s not speaking of someone who is more righteous than others, the kind of person who is so righteous that God really hears that person’s prayers and then answers them. No, all Christians are righteous through their faith in Christ. Any Christian who prays–James says–can witness God’s power in bringing about healing (if God wills it), because God works powerfully through a Christian’s prayer, especially when those prayers are for the sick and tied to our confidence in Christ’s redemptive purposes on Calvary. Healing is directly tied to the promises of the gospel and to the forgiveness of sins.

James gives us a very specific example of what he is talking about. In verses 17-18, he appeals to the ministry of Elijah. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” While Elijah has a reputation as a great prophet with a close relationship with God, James reminds us that we are just like Elijah. We too know the power of God, because we trust in Christ’s cross and resurrection. There is no reason for Christians to lack confidence when praying, because we know that through our prayers, God accomplishes his wonderful purposes. Therefore, we should all be as zealous and as fervent when we pray as was Elijah. We should pray believing that God can accomplish his purpose and, if it be his will, grant us our request.

As we come to the end of this epistle, James leaves us with one final call to be “doers” of the word and not mere “hearers.” There are no final benedictions or greetings, just one last exhortation to act. As we read in verses 19-20, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” Speaking to his dear persecuted brothers throughout these churches, James now exhorts them to make every effort to restore those who wander from the truth. This is likely a reference to those who felt compelled to return to Judaism because the persecution they were facing was just too great. But those who are successful in bringing such a person back into the fold can be confident that their actions were instrumental in preventing someone from falling away from the faith. James leaves us with that wonderful reminder that no repentant sinner–no matter what they have done–is beyond the reach of a gracious God. Those who “do the word” will not just watch as their brothers and sisters wander away. They will make every effort to bring the wanderer back, knowing that they will save that wandering soul from death.

The Take Away

James has promised us that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. He has told us that if we need grace, God will give us more grace. James has told us that if we need wisdom from God, all we need do is ask. And so in the closing verses of this epistle James describes the way in which God draws near, gives us grace, and dispenses his wisdom–through the prayer of faith.

Is anyone undergoing hardship? Then pray! For this is how God draws near, gives more grace, and dispenses heavenly wisdom.

Is anyone cheerful? Is your heart filled with gratitude? Then let your heart be filled with praises and songs unto the Lord!

Is anyone sick or weak? Summon the elders, let them pray for you. Ask for the prayers of the saints. Know that your sins are forgiven and that God will see you through all of your trials. If it be his will, he will heal you! If not he will give you the strength to endure.

Is anyone burdened with sin and guilt? Confess your sins each to the other and know that your sins are forgiven in Christ!

Is someone you know wandering from the truth? Then go and get them and save their soul from death!

God has promised that the prayer of faith accomplishes great things. For not only do we see God’s power manifest in his ability to answer prayer, we know that prayer is one of the means through which God accomplishes his purposes. And when we pray as James has exhorted us, we are “doers of the word,” whom James says, will be blessed in our doing!

Amen!

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[1] Contra Moo, The Epistle of James, 231-234.

[2] Moo, The Epistle of James, 234-235.

[3] Moo, The Epistle of James, 236-237.

[4] See the helpful discussion in Moo, The Epistle of James, 236-242.

“The Ground of This Assurance”

Accordingly, this assurance does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word, but from faith in the promises of God which he has very plentifully revealed in his Word for our comfort, from the testimony “of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children and heirs” (Rom. 8:16–17), and finally from a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience and of good works. And if God’s chosen ones in this world did not have this well-founded comfort that the victory will be theirs and this reliable guarantee of eternal glory, they would be of all people most miserable.

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The assurance of one’s salvation is not strictly a theological matter, but essentially a pastoral one. How can God’s people live in the knowledge that God will deliver them from the guilt and power of sin, despite the flesh (the sinful nature) continuing to create sinful thoughts and desires within which often manifest in sinful acts and behaviors? Anyone who has ever wrestled with the question, “how can I know that I will be saved?” has dealt with the matter addressed in this article.

The Dutch Arminians (along with Roman Catholics) contend that the Reformed view of the assurance of one’s salvation (that you can presently know that you will be saved) leads to the sin of presumption—we presume that God will save us despite the possibility of serious future sin and the possibility of apostasy (falling away). The challenge raised is that a Christian may believe the gospel at present, but cannot be assured that at some future point they will not fall into serious sin or renounce the faith. To presume that we can have such assurance, it is claimed, makes people indifferent to sin and lazy and careless in the pursuit of holiness. “If I can’t lose my salvation (and have a false assurance that I will not) then what motive do I have to avoid sin or strive to make progress in the Christian life.” The critics of the Reformed view often opt for suitable motivation through asserting that the Christian life is grounded in the “fear of punishment and hope of reward.”

In previous articles under the fifth head of doctrine, the Canons addressed the reality of indwelling sin in believers, and emphasized the fact that despite the temptations and struggles of the Christian life, true believers will persevere to the end of their lives in faith and repentance because Jesus preserves them through his present work as mediator and intercessor.

Here, the Canons deal with yet another aspect of the assurance of salvation: the work of the Holy Spirit. Believers need not seek a special work of grace or a secret revelation promising them assurance in addition to what has already been revealed in the word of God—the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life. The Canons put it this way: “Accordingly, this assurance does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word, testimony `of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children and heirs’ (Rom. 8:16–17), but from faith in the promises of God which he has very plentifully revealed in his Word for our comfort.” A clear conscience is the only solid foundation which can provide the freedom to actually do good works and pursue holy things. God’s saving mercy in Christ is a promise of his love and forgiveness, not a sinful presumption leading to indifference to our sins.

In addition to the text cited in article ten—“the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”—the present intercession of Jesus on behalf of sinners also comes to mind (John 17; 1 John 2:1-2). Paul goes on to speak of us as children and heirs of God, “and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” This is hardly a religion of fear and reward seeking, but of comfort and confidence, not in ourselves, but in our intercessor (Jesus) and the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:24-28), who helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26) and enables us to cry “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The motivation for striving to obey the commandments and avoiding sin is neither fear nor gain, but as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, “gratitude.” We can live in faith and comfort, knowing that God will complete his work in us through Christ and in the Holy Spirit. We serve him joyfully because of who he is and what he has done for us.

What a miserable existence it is for those who, out of fear, avoid God’s holy presence and seek to gain his favor by what they do. No, as the article puts it, “and if God’s chosen ones in this world did not have this well-founded comfort that the victory will be theirs and this reliable guarantee of eternal glory, they would be of all people most miserable.” Indeed.

Episode Synopsis:

When Paul writes his letter to the church in Rome, he is still in Corinth, having made a difficult visit there to deal with the ongoing problems in the Corinthian church, which we addressed in Season Four (when we covered 2 Corinthians). But things have improved in Corinth to the point that Paul is making plans to continue his Gentile mission. Before that can happen, Paul must make the journey to Jerusalem to deliver the offering collected from the churches in Greece. Having done that, Paul hopes to go on to Spain (at the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea). The midpoint between Jerusalem and Spain is the Italian peninsula and the city of Rome. So Paul writes a letter of introduction to the church there, a letter which we now know as Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.

Paul is unquestionably the author of Romans. His epistle was sent by messenger – a woman named Phoebe – from Corinth to Rome early in 57 CE. In this letter, the apostle addresses a number of matters which we will discuss in great detail in future episodes. But if we are to boil down the contents of Romans to a single word, that word would be “gospel.” Paul does not say much about the church to which he is writing–he’s never been there. But we do know from the contents of this letter that like other churches of the Gentile mission, the Roman church was predominantly Gentile, though a number of Jews in Rome had come to faith in Jesus Christ. And so Paul must explain how these two groups fit in God’s larger plan and how they are to get along with each other despite their cultural and religious differences. Paul does this by stressing that both Jews and Gentiles are reckoned righteous, reconciled to the same God through the work of the same Savior in the power of the Holy Spirit, and this through the preaching of the one gospel.

Many Christians are familiar with the Book of Romans, but are likely far less familiar with the city, the situation there, and the recipients of this letter. What was Rome like in the days of Paul? What was it like to be an inhabitant of the city? How did you live, and under what circumstances? Where did you eat or work? What was it like to live under the reign of Nero? Life was brutal and cruel for many of the city’s inhabitants, but luxurious by first-century standards for others. Why were the Jews expelled twice from the city? And how did the gospel first arrive in the capital of this powerful pagan empire? It is an interesting story and I’ll do my best to tell it.

Show Notes:

It was a beautiful spring day when I recorded this episode–which means that the local municipal airport was busy. There were multiple interruptions, but I’ve gotten pretty good at editing out the offending airplane noises. Crows are a different matter however–they give no warning before they caw. I did notice that one that caw slipped through . . . Oh well.

It is allergy season in So Cal, so my voice is a bit thin.

Recommended Links:

Select Resources for the Study of Romans

Daily life in Rome

The Roman Empire in the First Century (PBS)

Why did Paul write Romans?

Music:

(Shutterstock): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92m, second movement, Allegretto (A minor)

Who Said That?

After all, here was a person, proud to be a five-point Calvinist, whose doctrines would have been repudiated by Calvin. In fact, his doctrines would have gotten him tossed out of Geneva had he arrived there with his brand of "Calvinism" at any time during the late sixteenth or the seventeenth century. Perhaps more to the point, his beliefs stood outside of the theological limits presented by the great confessions

And about whom was it said?

Please leave your guess in the comments section using the link below.  Please no google searches or cheating. Don’t ruin it for everyone else!

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:

• Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast, a deep dive Bible study in the Book of Romans is now underway. Give it a listen!

• My series on James is coming to an end. Next up, the Epistles of John

Thinking Out Loud:

• With the landslide victory of James Paxton in the Texas Senate primary, and the democratic defense of Graham Platner’s Nazi Tattoo and horn dog behavior, it is all too clear that the personal morality of political candidates no longer matters to voters. I remember Bill Clinton’s claim “I didn’t inhale,” or the last minute revelation of George Bush’s DUI, that nearly cost each of them the presidency. Now, all the political tribes care about is gaining political advantage even if their chosen candidate is a moral degenerate. That does not bode well for the future of our Republic, which depends upon the virtue and morality of its elected officials

• Spencer Pratt’s campaign against Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has been absolutely brilliant

• I believe that Satan is currently bound to the Abyss by the preaching of the gospel. But he does retain limited power to deceive. One place where he has been successful is deceiving publishers into using endnotes, not footnotes

• Churches ought to begin instructing their members about Islamic history and doctrine in conjunction with training to evangelize our Muslim neighbors. Islam will not be going away, and the mission field has come to us

• Aaron MacLean (School of War Podcast) host, nails it. “If each day we travel half the distance to an Iran deal, and then the day after that travel half *the remaining distance*, and then so on the day after that… logically there can never be an Iran deal.” I do worry that somehow Trump will manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

• I would love to have the dollar amount spent on printing and mailing candidate advertisements to my home, which I throw away without even looking at them. What a waste

• It doesn’t show up as a polling question, but like him or not, “Trump fatigue” is a thing. I hope our next president (I’m hoping for Rubio) stays off social media, limits interaction with the press to several times a week, and is not on the news or social media on a constant basis

• My vote for the worst possible title for a book about Jan Hus is On Fire for God, by Victor Budgen and published by Evangelical Press in 2007. How did that get through editorial?

Recently Read:

Brett Whalen’s Dominion of God, (2009) was mentioned in someone’s social media discussion of resources on the end-times. Having just finished Michael Horton’s Magician and Mechanic, I realized how litle I knew about specifics of the eschatology of the medieval Roman Church, other than eschatolgical speculation was widespread due to the end of the millennium (just as with the Y2K craziness of our own age) and greatly influnced by Joachim of Fiore. But Whalen’s was a book I knew I needed to tackle.

Brett Whalen is a professor of intellectual history at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The volume does a capable job of recounting the eschatological speculation of the period. As such it filled in a signficiant lacuna in my own knowledge of the goings on in Rome during this time. Several of my recent posts on Medieval Antichrist speculation were prompted by Whalen’s book. If you are interested in the details spelled out by Whalen I will direct you there: A Holy Pope yet to Come?, Well, That Didn't Come to Pass As Expected -- More Medieval Antichrist Expectations, and Antichrist Speculation: Nothing New.

This is a well-written, quick-paced volume and serves as yet another reminder that nearly a millennium later, Christians are still prone to wild speculation about the end times in relation to their own current situation. Joachim’s stress upon the three stages of history—with the third stage (the “age of the Spirit” yet come)—prompted all sorts of speculation about when an “Age of the Spirit” would dawn, what it would be like when it did, and what must happen before it could come to pass. This expectation took place at a time when the Roman Church was exceedingly corrupt, Islamic armies had occupied the “holy sites” in Jerusalem and Palestine, the great East-West schism ocurred, and the crusades began with all manner of fleeting successes, dismal failures, and unexpected consequences. Whalen recounts these events in a very readable and informative manner.

In additional to covering ground with which I was not familiar, Whalen’s account brings to light some fruitful debate and discussion of the relevant biblical texts during this period, while at other times reveals that many of the church’s sounder minds were also prone to make sensational predictions which were offered in an attempt to explain the challanges and tribulations of their own age. Fear and uncertainty about the future drove much of this speculation, but when these efforts become unhinged from the biblical data, all sorts of craziness ensues.

Surely, there is a lesson there for all of us. So while we cry out, “Maranatha, Come Quickly Lord Jesus,” let us be careful not to do what Peter warns us about (2 Peter 3:3-4) —“knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, `Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’” Let us not give scoffers things to scoff about, while we go about the business the Lord has assigned to us in Matthew 24:14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Taking the gospel to the ends of the earth is the only sign of the end we can do anything about to hasten the Lord’s return.

Whalen’s book is not for all, but well worth reading if this period and topic is of interest to you.

Recommended Links:

• Best article yet on Ben Sasse’s struggle with terminal cancer—including his Reformed theological perspective and hope for the future: Ben Sasse Is Teaching us How to Die—and Live Well

• No postmillennial optimism in Isaiah 24-27

• School of War does it again. A great conversation from two clear-thinking men (Aaron MacLean and Douglas Murray)—who were both present in the Hilton ballroom for the Correspondent’s Dinner) about why “nice” young men are drawn to radical causes and commit radical acts of violence. A great discussion

• The Eastern Orthodox have long condemned Sola Fide

• Shane Lems Reviews, James Davison Hunter’s “To Change the World”

A Bit of Fun:

• Apparently slamming down hot dogs can cause you to lose your temper

• In the Spirit of Sammy Hagar, I can’t drive 17.3

• When a crazy Karen comes after your kid

• The attack of the killer pothole. Well that did not go as planned

• Don’t leave Fido alone in a car with a shotgun. A dog shoots a driver

• Yup, that probably merits an investigation

• Calling George Costanza: Is there a marine biologist nearby?

• Florida Man is back

• When there’s a pink elephant in the room—literally

• Cats doing their thing, again

• The war between the sexes continues—the great debate

• Frogs don’t like ICE

• Not quite Pat Boone’s pool—Your font is too small

• Chocolate has several beneficial health benefits, but I had not considered this

• “Gimme a Break, Gimme a Break, Break Me Off a Piece of that Kit Kat Bar” —12 tons worth

Previous Musings:

Spring 2026

Video:

There are not words! We need might “gender equity cards” for speakers at Synod and General Asssembly

From Season Five, Episode One of the Blessed Hope Podcast

Calvin’s commentary on the Book of Romans was his first commentary on any book of the Bible. It was written in 1539 and published the following year while Calvin was still in Strasbourg. His Romans commentary was revised in 1551 and again in 1556. It is my guess that many who have consulted Calvin on Romans have read neither Calvin’s dedication of the commentary to Simon Grynaeus nor his introductory essay on the theme of Romans. In these two essays, we get a fascinating glimpse of Calvin’s goal as a biblical interpreter and his estimation of the importance of grasping the central message of Paul’s great letter—the doctrine of justification by faith. We also get a sense of how Calvin felt about the transforming power of the Book of Romans.

In his dedication to Grynaeus, Calvin reminds him that “both of us felt that lucid brevity constituted the particular virtue of an interpreter.” Conversely, says Calvin, a commentator “misses his mark, or at least strays outside his limits by the extent to which he leads his readers away from the meaning of his author.” It is especially important to be brief and lucid when commenting on Romans, writes Calvin, “because if we understand this epistle we have a passage opened to us to the understanding of the whole of Scripture.”[1]

While Calvin lauds the recent commentaries of Melanchthon, Bullinger, and Bucer, he felt a lucid and brief commentary on Romans should be produced “for no other reason that the common good of the Church.”[2] While Calvin admired Martin Bucer’s genius, Bucer’s own commentary on Romans was over 500 double-column pages with a title approaching one hundred words.[3] That was too much for the current need. Although Calvin felt at times compelled to depart from the views of his illustrious predecessors, this stemmed not from a desire to be an innovator, to slander others, or from personal ambition. Rather, Calvin felt that the power and importance of the Book of Romans was too great not to comment upon it. Because of the necessity of expounding Holy Scripture for God’s people plainly and simply—particularly this book of the Bible, in which we learn so clearly of Christ and the gospel—Calvin attempted to set forth Paul’s gospel to the church in Rome in a brief and lucid form.

In Calvin’s essay on the theme of Romans, he makes the point that while Romans has many outstanding virtues, there is one virtue in particular that all Christians must appreciate: “If we have gained an understanding of this Epistle, we have an open door to all the most profound treasures of Scripture.”[4] According to Calvin, in the Book of Romans, we truly do have the key to understanding the whole Bible. If we understand Paul here and grasp his main point—“that we are justified by faith”—we will be able to navigate our way through much of the Old Testament, since Paul quotes over sixty passages from the Old Testament and alludes to a number of others. We will also understand the gospel as it was preached by the apostles.

Therefore, to understand the Book of Romans, says Calvin, is to understand the gospel. And that gospel is centered in Paul’s message of justification by faith alone.

__________________________

[1] John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, trans., Ross McKenzie (William B. Eerdmans, 1979), 1.

[2] Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, 3.

[3] T. H. L Parker, Commentaries on Romans: 1532-1542 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1986), 37. Calvin considered Melancthon’s commentary, “unbalanced and insufficient,” but praised Bullinger’s work on Romans since he has “the gift of teaching” (75).

[4] Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, 5.

Difficult Times for Christians in Palestine

Throughout the decade or so after Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension, Jewish Christians living in Palestine and Syria faced very difficult circumstances. In the Palestine of James’s day (the mid-forties of the first century), the act of confessing that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah would have been a costly one. Many Jews living in Jerusalem became Christians. However, many more sided with the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious leadership) and saw Jesus as a messianic pretender who diverted the nation’s attention away from the pressing issue of the day—overthrowing Rome’s occupation of their homeland.

James is writing to Christians who have paid a great price to profess their faith in Jesus. Many of his readers had been driven out of the Jerusalem area into the surrounding countryside. In the opening verse of this letter, James addressed them as “the Dispersion.” As religious refugees, these people were often at the mercy of wealthy landowners, who were exploiting them for personal gain. It was a difficult time and place to be a Christian. James writes both to offer them words of encouragement and to exhort them not to be mere hearers of the word. James reminds his audience that there is a day of judgment yet to come when all of these wrongs will be made right. But until that day comes, God’s people must be patient.

We Are Nearing the End—A Quick Summation

We are quickly coming to the end of this series on James as we make our way into the fifth and closing chapter. We now take up the first half of chapter five (verses 1-12), while next time, Lord willing, we’ll take up the final section of this letter (verses 13-20).

As we have seen throughout our study of James, the author attributes the salvation of his hearers and readers to the grace of God, who has brought them forth to new life through the preached word. James has told of how God implanted that word within them, and how these same Christians hold fast to their faith in Jesus, “the Lord of glory.” James has explained how the law of God exposes us as lawbreakers, but then goes on to describe how, for a Christian, the law of God is a law of liberty. Having been justified by the merits of Christ received through faith, the law now serves as our guide for living the Christian life and doing good works.

James has explained that the faith which justifies us is a faith that manifests itself in good works as its fruit. True religion can be seen through very specific actions: the taming of our tongues, the care of widows and orphans, avoiding worldliness (thinking and acting like a pagan), and treating the rich and poor with equal respect. James has warned us about our sinful passions at war within us. He has told us how these sinful passions produce jealousy and quarreling, and how they lead us to seek our own way so as to exalt ourselves over others. James has warned us that because our lives are short, we should not boast about tomorrow. He has comforted us with the reminder that if we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. If we seek grace, God is willing to give us more grace. James has told us to seek wisdom from above, because if we do so, we will experience a harvest of righteousness. Indeed, if we humble ourselves before God, God will exalt us. James’s emphasis upon humility continues into chapter 5.

Additional Warnings to the Rich

As we turn to our text (James 5:1-12), we find yet another warning to the rich, only this time James’s words are much sharper than his previous warnings. However, these warnings are not directed toward wealthy Christians within these churches. A good case can be made that James is speaking to those wealthy landowners outside the church who were persecuting the believers to whom James is writing.

Before we go through the passage itself, it is important to recall that this section of James is very closely linked to James 4:13-17, which we considered in our last installment. Recall that James was making the point that life is short—we are but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Those who make their daily plans without submitting those plans to the Lord through prayer (“if the Lord wills”) are actually boasting in themselves. As James sees it, this boasting is evil because such behavior arrogantly assumes that creatures determine their own futures, when that determination belongs to our Creator, not to us. Throughout chapter 5, James’s point is that the rich—those who trust their wealth so much that they are lulled into thinking that they, not God, are in control of their own destinies—need to seriously reconsider this sinful attitude. Their wealth will fail them on the day of judgment when all things are brought into the open. James is reminding his hearers that it is God who controls their futures, not them.

There has been much discussion about the identity of the “rich” in this particular section of James. As we will see in verse 4, there can be little doubt that James is referring to wealthy landowners who dominated the rural areas to the northeast and northwest of Jerusalem. I contend that this is a different group of wealthy people than those mentioned back in chapter 2, where James described a serious problem that had arisen within the churches (i.e., the assembly). The situation James describes there is that the rich were honored and welcomed in the assembly, while the poor were often treated with disrespect. James reminds his audience that while God may call some to be poor, He has also made them rich in faith. Discrimination in the church based upon wealth or appearance is a sin. Those who act deferentially to the rich—presumably to receive some kind of favor from them—need to consider that it was the rich who were able to manipulate the system to their own advantage. The rich were taking the poor to court, thereby causing God’s name to be dishonored before the Gentiles.

The Problem Is Greed, Not Wealth

There is no question, then, that in James chapter 2, James is speaking directly to those Christians who were favoring the wealthy members of these churches (landowners and merchants), while at the same time dishonoring the poor through shabby treatment. But in James chapter 5, the evidence clearly shows that James is speaking of a different group of individuals. For one thing, it is rather striking that in chapter 5 James speaks of these rich merchants in exactly the same manner as the Old Testament prophets who warned rich, unbelieving Gentiles of a final judgment yet to come.[1] This warning is far different in spirit and in tone than James’s earlier exhortation about not favoring the rich at the expense of the poor within the Christian assembly.

In fact, James’s language in chapter 5 is quite typical of the widespread Old Testament condemnation of wealthy landowners who exploit the poor who work their land, desperately trying to eke out a living. In contemporary theological debate, the sin associated with the wealthy exploiting the poor is picked up by advocates of so-called “liberation theology,” who argue that the accumulation of wealth is in and of itself sinful, and that in a just society (i.e., a Marxist society) personal wealth should be redistributed so that class distinctions are equalized. Liberation theologians often cite James chapter 5 in attempting to make their case. But the redistribution of wealth is hardly James’s point.

It is vital that we understand that what is condemned in the Old Testament is not wealth per se, but the misuse of wealth, especially in those instances when those who owned the land gained that wealth through exploiting the poor who worked it. This is James’s point here. There was no “middle class” in first-century Palestine. In addition to the migrant workers who worked land owned by someone else, there were tradesmen (with particular skills), unskilled laborers (carpenters, masons, herders, etc., who went wherever work could be found), a few government bureaucrats, and even fewer clerics. A typical wealthy landowner hired tenant farmers who lived on the estate, worked the land, and were allowed to keep a portion of their labor for themselves. Such people were at the complete mercy of the landowner, not only for a place to live but also for the amount of food they were allowed to keep—the excess of which was sold or traded for other necessities. A greedy landowner could make life absolutely unbearable for tenant farmers, which, apparently, was the case here.

When the Wealthy Exploit the Poor

Therefore, it is quite likely that James is referring to the “rich” outside the church who are cruelly exploiting the poor, many of whom are members of the churches to whom James is writing. It may even be the case that the specific rich landowners exploiting the poor were doing so because the poor were Jewish Christians who had been forced out of the Jerusalem area into the countryside because it was increasingly difficult to survive in the cities. Christian refugees would have been forced into migrant farming or day labor, even though many of them had been tradesmen doing something else for a living prior to their conversion to Christianity. There is no doubt that James is writing to warn these wealthy landowners of a coming judgment, while at the same time he is offering a strong word of encouragement to these poor, persecuted Christians, who need to be reminded that their defender is none other than God Himself.

The fifth chapter of James opens with a solemn word of warning to these wealthy landowners who were creating such hardship for God’s people. Sounding like an Old Testament prophet, James writes, “come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.” The words “weep” and “wail” are typically used throughout the Old Testament to describe the sounds the unbeliever will make on the day of judgment. This is not a reference to some sort of temporal judgment—the loss of wealth or property—as becomes clear when James’s words are understood against their Old Testament background. Take, for example, a passage such as Isaiah 13:6: “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!”

James Warns of a Judgment Yet to Come

Echoing a number of Israel’s prophets as well as the specific warning of a covenant curse upon the wealthy who exploit the poor found throughout the Mosaic law, there can be little doubt that James is speaking of the final day of judgment yet to come—that day when no one’s wealth, no matter how great, can save them.[2] As is his custom, James may also be echoing the words of woe spoken by Jesus in Luke 6:24-25: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”

James’s point is clear: those wealthy landowners who were oppressing the poor should themselves be terrified of the coming day of judgment. Those who have not known misery in this life—yet who cause such great misery for the poor—are going to encounter a far greater form of misery than they can ever imagine. Those who exploit the poor will indeed face the full wrath of God on the day of judgment. Here again, we see how Christianity completely overturns the status quo of human sinfulness. Those believers who may be poor by human estimation are exceedingly rich in the kingdom of God. But those who have fame, wealth, and power in this life and who reject Christ will have nothing in the next.

The rich trust in their riches. They often see themselves as immune to suffering, yet they see no problem with exploiting the poor to maintain their own wealth. And so, in verses 2-3, James reminds them of the folly of this attitude. Says James, “your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.” Despite the Marxist ideology of liberation theologians, James is not condemning wealth itself, but the folly of trusting in wealth that has been gained by exploiting others. As Calvin so wisely puts it, “God has not appointed gold for rust, nor garments for moths; but on the contrary, he has designed them as aids and helps to human life.”[3]

Wealth Is Not the “Be All” in Life

The problem is not with wealth itself. Wealth is a gift from God given to some. The problem James is addressing is that sinful men and women often allow wealth and riches to become the be-all and end-all of life. What such people forget is that riches will not last. Material possessions rot and decay. The finest clothes are eventually consumed by moths. Even precious metals eventually rust and tarnish. James’s warning here echoes the words of Jesus elsewhere. As Jesus Himself warns us in Matthew 6:19-21, “do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Those who trust in their wealth—rather than the grace and mercy of God—will have their arrogance and unbelief exposed for all to see on the day of judgment. As Jesus points out, the rich who were exploiting the poor have allowed their trust and affections to be tied to their possessions, all the while their hearts have wandered far from the purposes and will of God. Therefore, James reminds the wealthy who were persecuting Christians that even as their clothes are eaten by moths, and even as their precious metals rust away, that very same corrosion which exposes their folly will be used as evidence against them. This warning certainly implies the idea of a final judgment, when all that they have accumulated serves as evidence of their sinful arrogance.

In a very loud echo of Ezekiel 7:19, James warns the wealthy that they will be consumed by fire: “They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This is the fate of those whose wealth—which is a great blessing from the Lord—blinds them to that which truly lasts and is of infinite value: the favor of God in Christ. Instead of seeing wealth as a blessing and something that can be used to help others in need, James exposes the sin that provokes God’s judgment: “You have laid up treasure in the last days.”

Earthly Wealth Is Fleeting

It is important that we do not miss the great irony in all of this. The wealthy, those who are being condemned by James, are those people who hoard their possessions precisely because they trust in those possessions instead of trusting in the purposes of God. But the wealth they hoard will eventually rot away and corrode. Instead of storing up wealth, they are actually storing up God’s wrath, because a day of final judgment is coming. But this is the very thing the wealthy cannot see, because they trust in their wealth to save them from whatever may come to pass. As James indicates later on in the passage, he clearly believes that he is living in the last days—that the Lord might return at any moment—and in this lies the folly of hoarding personal wealth. Their wealth will be of no value to them whatsoever on the day of judgment, and the wealth God gave them will actually testify against them. James has already warned us that life is short and that our failure to submit our plans to the will of God is but testimony of our arrogance. So here too James reminds us of the folly of that all-too-common sentiment expressed in the popular bumper sticker, “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

In verse 4, James moves from the general attitude of the rich toward the purposes of God to the specifics of their sins against the poor. “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” From this text, it is clear that James is indeed addressing the issue of migrant workers and the landowners who have exploited them. Again, James’s words virtually echo the accusations that Israel’s prophets made against those doing the same thing. In Malachi 3:5, we read YHWH’s accusation against Israel:

Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. It is important to notice that the exploitation of the poor is equated with sins tied to the occult, adultery, and lying.

The Treatment of the Poor Matters

Furthermore, this kind of treatment of the poor was explicitly condemned in the law of Moses. In Deuteronomy 24:15, YHWH commands His people, “You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” So here in James 5, the brother of our Lord is warning those who have exploited the poor that the cries of the poor have reached YHWH’s ears. The implication is that YHWH knows the plight of His people and will quickly act on their behalf. This is both a warning to those who owe the poor their just wages and a word of consolation to the poor, who need to know that their cause is a righteous one and that God Himself is their defender.

In verse 5, James gives us yet another reason why God’s judgment is coming against the rich. “You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” James never says that God condemns wealth—God is the giver of wealth. What is condemned is wasteful “self-indulgence,” i.e., the use of wealth for sinful pleasure and comfort when that same wealth was acquired through exploiting the back-breaking labor of migrant workers and refugees who were cheated out of their wages. While the wealthy hoard their gold, silver, and fine clothes, they fail to see that they are only adding to the evidence of their guilt.

The biblical metaphor of fattening an animal before it is slaughtered applies to those who foolishly hoard their wealth while exploiting the poor. James’s point is that there is going to come a great reversal of fortune. The poor who have nothing in this life will be rewarded with all the riches and treasures of heaven. But the rich who have exploited them will fall under the hand of God’s judgment, and their wealth will be introduced into the heavenly court as evidence of their sin. In fact, James speaks of the actions of the rich against God’s people as being as grave as though they had actually slaughtered them. Hence the strong language of verse 6: “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” To withhold wages from the poor—especially in the case of those who are being persecuted and suffer such economic hardship because of their profession of faith in Christ—is as serious an offense as if the wealthy had taken their lives. The righteous who have fled into rural Palestine to escape persecution are helpless against those who now exploit them. But those who exploit God’s people are helpless against God, who will indeed come to their defense.

Be Patient—the Lord Is the Final Judge

The notion that a day of final judgment is coming now opens the door for James to offer words of encouragement to his readers in verses 7-8. “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” This, too, is language taken from the Old Testament. In this case, James’s words echo Deuteronomy 11:8-17. In light of God’s promise of a final judgment, Christians must be patient for that day and persevere until it comes. Farm laborers know something about patience. They must sow the seed, water the fields, weed, and then cultivate the crops before the harvest finally comes in months later. Although his readers have been exploited and treated unjustly, James does not tell them to revolt or to take matters into their own hands. No, James instructs God’s people to be patient. The final judgment (the harvest) may not come today or tomorrow, but it will come!

In light of this, James exhorts the suffering faithful, “do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” James has already warned us about the destructive power of our speech. In light of the difficult circumstances facing these struggling Christians—caused by those outside the church—it would be very easy to vent that righteous anger upon their brothers and sisters in Christ (as some in the churches were doing). This would be an ever-present temptation. As it is certain that those exploiting the poor will get theirs in the judgment, so too it would be a tragedy for Christians to allow their frustration to cause them to judge others and then come under judgment themselves. So James now reminds these persecuted people that Jesus, the Judge, is soon to return. The implication of his words is that the Christian should trust in the Lord to right all wrongs, even those going on within the church. We should not judge others because we are not the Judge.

The Lord Is Compassionate and Merciful

James ends this section with a reminder of what Israel’s own prophets were forced to endure. “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” James’s best source of hope for the suffering saint is to point them to the faithfulness of God—how God is always faithful to His people when He calls them to suffer. God is always compassionate and merciful, and this is the reason why those now suffering should be steadfast and not just give up.

In light of this wonderful promise of God’s compassion, James exhorts his readers not to speak and act rashly, and to continue to watch their words carefully. “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” The patient person should not swear oaths or take vows. It is enough for their “yes” to be “yes” and their “no” to be “no.” We will return to this exhortation next time when we conclude our series on James and go through verses 13-20.

What Is the Takeaway for Us?

James is setting forth an application of the blessing/curse principle found throughout the Scriptures. God will indeed bless His people, and He will curse those who persecute them. James does not condemn wealth, but he does expose the folly of trusting in wealth and the great sin of acquiring wealth through the exploitation of others—in this case, the cruel treatment given to Christian refugees who were forced to flee into the countryside to avoid being persecuted because of their faith in Christ.

James reminds us that God is the defender of the poor, as well as the giver of wealth. He also speaks a powerful word of woe to those who think what they’ve acquired in this life will do them one bit of good in the next. In this, James echoes the teaching of Jesus, who warned us of the folly of storing up treasure on earth when we should be seeking that heavenly treasure which is found only in Christ.

Despite the word of woe to the unbelieving rich, the good news for all of us—whether we are rich, poor, or middle class—is that in Christ, we are given unspeakable wealth, a wealth that does not rot. The robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness cannot be eaten by moths, nor will the golden streets of heaven ever see tarnish. We need never fear having the true wealth Jesus gives us taken away from us, because it cannot perish. It is a wealth earned not by the sweat of exploited laborers, but through the bloody sweat of the Son of God, who perfectly obeyed the commandments of God and who voluntarily suffered the wrath of God for us and in our place. It is a wealth which justifies us before God and allows us to live in His very presence forever.

And even though the Judge (our blessed Savior Jesus) is at the door, until the coming of the Lord, let us be patient, for the harvest will soon be ready. And while we wait, let us never forget that our blessed Lord is compassionate and merciful, and is even now preparing for us a treasure that we can scarcely imagine!

________________________________________

[1] Moo, The Letter of James, 210.

[2] Moo, The Epistle of James, 210.

[3] Cited in Moo, The Epistle of James, 214.

Article 9: The Assurance of This Preservation

Concerning this preservation of those chosen to salvation and concerning the perseverance of true believers in faith, believers themselves can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith, by which they firmly believe that they are and always will remain true and living members of the church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

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Articles 4–8 of the Canons, which deal with perseverance and preservation, address the very real problem of indwelling sin and the temptation that all believers inevitably face. In Articles 9–13, the focus shifts to the believer’s confidence regarding the assurance (or certainty) of salvation. Yes, Christians need to be wary of a “fifth column” deep within: indwelling sin. We also must be careful to faithfully partake of the means of grace (the preaching of the Word and regular participation in the sacraments), since these are the basis of our spiritual strength and sustenance. As the Canons have emphasized, Christians are to flee from those things which we know can draw us away from Christ.

Despite the very real inner war against the flesh and the reality of our sinful nature, we need not live in fear that God will give up on us and cast us aside when we fall into sin or if we despair of our final salvation. True believers in Jesus Christ will persevere to the end of their lives in faith, because Christ preserves us in faith through his present intercessory work on behalf of all those chosen by the Father (the elect). This point is plain from 1 John 2:1–2, where Jesus is said to intercede on behalf of those for whom he has died: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” The source of our assurance, then, is Christ’s present work on our behalf in his offices of prophet, priest, and king. His intercession for us will cannot fail.

The Roman Catholic Church holds that the Reformed doctrine of assurance leads to the sin of “presumption”—i.e., the false sense that once justified, a believer can never fall away. This, it is claimed, inevitably leads to indifference toward our sin (The Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Article 9). Arminians, as we have seen, hold a similar view.

Based upon the numerous biblical passages previously considered, the Canons correctly affirm that “believers themselves can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith, by which they firmly believe that they are and always will remain true and living members of the church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.” This assurance is grounded in the present work of Christ (as indicated above), and not upon the strength of one’s faith—since even weak faith justifies (e.g., Matthew 17:20; Mark 9:24).

The Reformed would later debate among themselves whether such assurance is of the “essence of faith” (meaning someone who exercises faith in Christ does so with the confidence that they are saved), or if assurance is a Christian virtue to be cultivated, recognizing that elect believers often can and do doubt their salvation even though assurance remains possible. The Canons, written in 1618–1619, do not address that specific question, as the debate arose later (cf. The Westminster Confession of Faith, 18:3). Rather, the Canons speak only of a measure of faith (weak or strong) and maintain that assurance is—or should be—the possession of all believers.

Paul speaks to the matter of such assurance at length in the so-called “prison epistles,” written while he was imprisoned in Rome: Philippians 3:8–21; Colossians 2:1–3; and Ephesians 1:13–23.

Episode Synopsis:

Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast is underway. I know that for many of you, the Book of Romans is your favorite letter in all the New Testament. When we wrapped up our time in 2 Corinthians a couple of months ago, the clock started on launching Season Five. I love Romans, I’ve preached through it twice using the lectio continua style of exposition, and I have lectured on parts of Romans on a number of other occasions. So I am very excited about season five, and I’ve worked very hard to get this verse by verse deep dive Bible study ready to go.

There can be little doubt that Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is one of the most important letters ever written. As we will discuss in this episode, the Epistle to the Romans has had a tremendous impact upon the course and history of Western Civilization, as well as a huge impact upon the people of God ever since it was written. For reasons we will address momentarily, the Book of Romans has a clarity and power about it which brings Reformation and renewal to Christ’s church whenever it is proclaimed from the pulpit and studied by the people of God.

We open Season Five with two episodes devoted to the importance and historical background of the epistle. In this first episode we’ll take a look at the ways in which this letter has impacted the world in which we live, and we’ll consider some of the key figures in church history and their testimonies about the influence which Romans has had upon them and their ministries. The influence of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is truly remarkable.

That done, we’ll briefly look at some of the main themes of the letter. What ground does Paul seek to cover in this letter to a church in the very capital of a pagan empire? Why did the renewed interest in Romans some 500 years ago generate many of the controversies which led to the Protestant Reformation and the split from the Roman Catholic church? Why does Romans still generate controversies, such as those associated with the New Perspective on Paul? What about those doctrines long associated with confessional Reformed theology? Can we find them in Romans? So, in addition to the themes laid out by Paul in this letter, I’ll identify some of the main controversies we will address when we get into the meat of the letter. I’ll also explain my operating assumptions as we open a new season–why am I approaching this letter from an exegetical, theological, historical, and confessional perspective?

Show Notes:

I have been hard at work preparing a number of episodes as Season Five gets rolling, and I hope you are as eager to get started and dig in as I am.

This was an uneventful recording session. No airplanes or helicopters, no barking dogs, no leaf blowers or lawnmowers, and no trash truck. A clean recording makes editing much, much, easier.

Recommended Links:

Select Resources for the Study of Romans

Naselli: Why Romans Is the Greatest Letter Ever Written?

Rosner: What is the Purpose of Romans?

Jared Wilson: Why Study the Book of Romans?

Music:

(Shutterstock): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92m, second movement, Allegretto (A minor)

You Think Antichrist Speculation Is Bad Now . . .

Antichrist speculation was rife at the end of the thirteenth century. A number of those influenced by the noted apocalyptic thinker Joachim of Fiore (b. 1135, d. 1202) expected the Lord to return by 1260. This was a date derived from a misreading of several texts in the Book of Revelation (cf. Revelation 11:2-3; 12:6). When this did not happen as hoped for, those left behind were forced to explain why the Lord had not come back. In previous posts, I considered antichrist speculations of two prominent Franciscan theologians, Gerhoh of Reichersberg, and Adso of Montier-en-Der, who had much to say about an imminent appearance of the Antichrist in the tenth (Adso) and eleventh centuries (Gerhoh). If our own age is dogged by end-times speculation, we have nothing on the medievals when it comes to attempting to identify the Antichrist.

Throughout the thirteenth century, the Roman Church was thoroughly corrupt and made little effort to hide it or do anything about it. A large and influential “reformist movement” (including many Franciscans) lamented the sad state of the church and sought its reform. Some even speculated that a future, evil pope, might even be the Antichrist.

But there were other factors driving the eschatological fervor of the period. One was the influence which Joachim had upon much of the church’s eschatology–although Aquinas and Bonaventure resisted much of this speculation. Famous for his understanding of history unfolding in three stages, Joachim taught that the final stage was to be the age of the “Spirit” which had not yet dawned. The anticipation of a truly “spiritual” age encouraged all sorts of wild speculation about when this age would begin, what things would be like when it did, and what events would occur before it does.

A second factor was that in addition to the corruption running throughout the Roman Church’s hierarchy, the first crusade began in 1096. The collective goal of successive crusades was to recapture the holy sites in Jerusalem. The crusades found some initial success—taking Jerusalem—but the holy city was later retaken by the “Saracens” (Muslims). This raised all sorts of troubling questions about why the Lord had allowed such a calamity to occur after what had been proclaimed as a great victory for the crusaders. Was God going to punish his disobedient church by sending an Antichrist?

Third, the crusades played out against the backdrop of the schism between the Roman and Greek Churches in 1054 (known today as the East-West Schism). The Greeks (now known as the Eastern Orthodox) would not submit to the authority of the pope and were considered heretical by Rome on several key points, including the filioque clause in the creed, the use of leavened bread in the sacrament, and differences in the liturgy. During the crusades, soldiers and armed thugs supporting Rome, made their way East to liberate the “holy land.” The crusaders at one point invaded and conquered but eventually lost Constantinople, the heart of the Greek Church and Byzantine Empire. But all of this progress followed by repeated setbacks, and given the intense hostility and warfare within Christendom, this generated much speculation among the followers of Joachim as to whether the Greek Church might be the seat of the Antichrist, or whether a reunion of the two churches would be a harbinger of the end.

Fourth, geopolitical events were a major source of anxiety. The Tartars, a Turkic people allied with the Mongol Empire, invaded Islamic regions, and even captured Jerusalem from the Muslims for a time. They also pressed deep into Eastern Europe causing fear and terror in Rome in the wake of their advance. If any people were thought to be capable of producing an Antichrist it was the Tartars. Yet another threat to the Roman Church was Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor, who organized a fifth crusade, which failed horribly in Egypt, and who was eventually excommunicated and considered by many to be the Antichrist.

Then, as now, identifying the Antichrist was an ongoing enterprise with a large cast of possibilities.

Enter Roger Bacon and the Coming “Angelic Pope”

A noted Franciscan theologian, the Englishman Roger Bacon (1219-1292), attempted to tamp down the Joachite speculations once the date of 1260 had come and gone without the coming of the Antichrist, the Lord’s return, or the dawn of Joachim’s third age—that of the Holy Spirit. Bacon was a highly respected polymath, known as Doctor Mirabilis. He was an accomplished philosopher, scientist, and theologian. In the midst of such prophetic speculation and uncertainty, Bacon sought to change the discussion by raising a new sort of eschatological hope, that of an “Angelic Pope.” This holy pope would appear and successfully deal with the corruption in the church (the lawyers and lawsuits mentioned below), he would unite the Greek Church with the Roman (ending the East-West schism), he will convert the Tartars and the Jews, and then defeat the dreaded Saracens. Bacon hoped this pope would enable Christians to prepare for an Antichrist in addition to his prediction of an eventual end of Islam after 693 years (based upon calculations using the Arabic calendar).

Like Adso and Gerhoh before him, Bacon composed a treatise on the matter in 1267, and sent it to the then current Pope, Clement IV. Here is an excerpt from Bacon’s treatise . . .

O most holy Father and wisest Lord, may your glory deign to consider that you alone are able to bring the cure since there never has been, nor will be, I believe, a pope who knew the law as truly as you do. Even though some men knew the law well, there is no hope that they will become pope. Forty years ago it was prophesied, and there have been many visions to the same effect, that there will be a pope in these times who will purify Canon Law and the Church of God from the sophistries and deceits of the jurists so that justice will reign over all without the rumbling of lawsuits. Because of the goodness, truth, justice of this pope the Greeks will return to the obedience of the Roman Church, the greater part of the Tartars will be converted to the faith, and the Saracens will be destroyed. There will be one flock and one shepherd heard (John 10:16). One who saw these marvels in his own time. Certainly, if God and the pope so wished, they could happen within the space of a single year, or even in less time. This could happen in your reign.[1]

Bacon’s eschatological expectation centers around the perfection and expansion of the Roman Catholic church, a sort of papal millennial “golden age” through the appearance of a “holy,” “wonderous,” “most blessed,” pope who will clean up the church and bring the nations into the fold of the Roman Church. This pope will be assisted in this effort by a “greatest prince,” who would use the sword to assist the holy pontif to “work together for the renewal and expansion of Christendom.”[2] Bacon wasn’t at all shy about advocating a union between pope and prince—uniting spiritual and military power under the pope’s direction to achieve the aformentioned goals.

But notice what, or better, who is missing. Nothing is said about Christ’s return as the center of a Christian’s future hope, only the expectation of a “holy” pope, who has not yet made his appearance some 750 years after Bacon’s prediction.

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[1] Translated from J. S. Brewer, Fr. Roger Bacon Opera Quaedum Hactenus Inedita (RS 15 page 86), and taken from Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998), 190.

[2] Brett Edward Whalen, Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), 192-193.

The Guilt of Sin and the Joy of Being Counted Righteous

There is nothing worse than to feel the conviction of sin–that miserable sense that you’ve done something wrong and your actions displease God because they violate his commandments. The Psalmist describes this feeling as akin to the oppressive heat of a hot and sweltering summer day. On the other hand, there is nothing better than to know the forgiveness of sin–the sense that the guilt of our wrong-doing has been forgiven, and that we are now considered righteous, as though we had never broken a single one of God’s commandments. The Psalmist describes this sense as a safe hiding place in times of trouble.

This then, is the theme of the 32nd Psalm–where and how to find true happiness and peace stemming from the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven, and that we are counted as righteous before God. When someone once asked Martin Luther which of the Psalms he liked best–he said the Psalms of Paul (the 32nd, the 51st, the 130th, the 146th) because they teach that the full forgiveness of sins comes without works to all who believe.[1] John Calvin says that in this Psalm we are reminded, “what a miserable thing it is to feel God’s hand heavy on account of sin,” but that “the highest and best part of a happy life consists in this, that God forgives a man’s guilt, and receives him graciously into his favor.”[2] Indeed, blessed is the one whose sins are covered.

A Penitential Psalm

The 32nd Psalm is quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 4 as an important proof-text for the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. This Psalm is often considered a “penitential Psalm”– the prayer of someone deeply affected by the guilt of their sins. It is also the second of seven so-called penitential Psalms in the Psalter, and the second such Psalm to appear in Book One of the Psalter. But this Psalm is much more than a penitential Psalm. It includes thanksgiving on the part of David–the Psalm’s author–as well as an appeal to divine wisdom which is revealed by YHWH. The Psalmist gives thanks for this wisdom, which he has received through the “instruction,” “teaching,” and “counsel” mentioned in verse 8. Having gained this wisdom from God, the Psalmist is moved to confess his sins and gives thanks to YHWH for this wonderful blessing. Made wise by God’s wisdom, the Psalmist describes the contrast between the misery of the conviction of sin and the joy (indeed, the happiness) of knowing that he is forgiven.[3] The Psalmist can describe this sense so well because he has lived it.

The Structure of Psalm 32

In verses 1-2, the blessing under consideration is described against the backdrop of the conviction of sin and the desire to seek forgiveness in verses 3-5. This, in turn, leads the Psalmist to find refuge in the Lord (verses 6-7), where he is given instruction (verses 8-10). The Psalm concludes with a call for God’s people to rejoice in the Lord who has heard their confession of sin, and then graciously granted them the blessedness of knowing that the guilt of their sin has been taken away, that they are “covered,” and that YHWH remembers their sin no more.

The 32nd Psalm has a chiastic structure–a common Hebrew literary device in which the various premises of a sustained argument simultaneously work back from the beginning and the end of a biblical passage, toward the center, in which we find the conclusion (or main point)–which, in this case, is the promise of God’s wisdom in verse 8. The conviction of sin and the assurance of forgiveness are things rightly understood only when one seeks the wisdom of God. The person who seeks this wisdom learns that their own sin is not some minor or incidental thing, and that the forgiveness they presently enjoy comes only because God provides for that forgiveness through a sacrifice which he institutes and which is acceptable to him.[4]

Our Sins Are Ultimately Sins Against God

To put it another way, when we see things from God’s perspective as revealed in his word (i.e., in the light of God’s wisdom) we know that our sins are ultimately sins against the holy God, and that the forgiveness we now enjoy has been purchased for us by the doing and dying of Jesus Christ upon the cross, for us, and in our place. Through the lens of Scripture we see things from God’s perspective (true wisdom)–our sin is a violation of God’s holy law as well as an affront to his holiness. Forgiveness is costly and requires the shedding of the Savior’s blood. Apart from Scripture (and the wisdom of God), sin is no big deal, and forgiveness comes by merely saying we are sorry.

The 32nd Psalm is the first of a series of Psalms (33-41) which speaks of the blessedness of the knowledge of forgiven sin. Both Psalm 33 and 34 speak of the joy of those who know that YHWH is Lord, and who know that God is their refuge. These Psalms encourage YHWH’s people to trust in the Lord, to seek his divine protection, and to know that God’s love surrounds them even in times of trouble. So then, the 32nd Psalm stands at the head of a brief series of Psalms which extol the wisdom of the Lord, while at the same time, this Psalm speaks of sorrow for sin and the joy which comes when we confess our sins to the Lord who then forgives us.

Blessed Are. . .

With this bit of background in mind let us dig into the text of the 32nd Psalm. The Psalm opens in verses 1-2 with the two-fold repetition of a blessing enjoyed by the people of God. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” The word “blessed” (’ašerê) can just as easily be translated “happy.”[5] “Happy” is the person who knows that their sins are forgiven, who knows their sin is covered, and against whom the Lord does not count the guilt of their sins. The person is happy because their sins have been removed and hidden from sight. The willingness to confess one’s sins is reflected by the fact that they have no desire to hide things from God (deceit)–as if we could hide things from God. Nothing is more futile and self-defeating than to act as though God does not know what we think, what we feel, or what we have done.

The word translated as “transgression” refers to an act of rebellion. Is not all sin rooted in human rebellion? The word “iniquity” comes from a root meaning to be “crooked,” and refers to the intention to do wrong. “Sin” is something that misses the mark, by falling short of what is expected of us, like an arrow not reaching the target. By repeating three times the nature of human sin, the Psalmist is striving to remind us of the gravity of our sins because our sins render us guilty before God, it offends his holiness, and we must realize that our sin is self-destructive and damages others. We cannot begin to appreciate what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, until we understand what Adam has done to our race by rebelling against God and plunging the human race into sin and death.

If it is vital that we understand the gravity of our sins, it is more important that we understand the blessedness (happiness) of knowing that our sins have been forgiven–that we live and die in the assurance of God’s favor. As the Psalmist used three words for sin, so too he uses three words for forgiveness. The word translated “forgiven” refers to the act of carrying away (“removing”) the guilt of sin, and even the remembrance of it. The Psalmist also speaks of our sins as “covered.” This refers to the satisfaction of God’s wrath so that our sin is no longer a ground (or basis) of God’s anger toward us. Third, our sins–once satisfaction has been made–no longer count against us.[6] It were as though we had never committed them–even though the consequences of our sin may remain.

Paul Appeals to This Psalm in Romans 4

In Paul’s letters (in the New Testament) the apostle often makes a theological point, but follows it up with an example from the Old Testament to clarify his point, as well as to prove to his Jewish readers that the apostle is not making his “gospel” up as he goes along. Paul preaches Christ, but the same Christ Paul preaches is hidden in the types and shadows of the Old Testament. Paul does this in Romans 4:5-8, making the theological point in verse 5, that “the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” God justifies, or counts as righteous, wicked people who trust in Jesus. To prove his point, Paul cites directly from this Psalm in verses 6-8 of Romans 4. David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: `Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” Paul’s point is that there is one gospel, found in both the Old and New Testaments.

A “Tranquilized” Conscience

The Psalmist speaks of things God’s people know and understand. We have all transgressed, sinned, and are filled with iniquities. But God forgives, covers, and no longer counts our sins against us. In light of this three-fold repetition of our sin, and the three-fold repetition of what God does so as to forgive us, John Calvin points out, “the two reasons for which the Psalmist insists so much on the subject of the forgiveness of sins are these—that he may, on the one hand, raise up those who are fallen asleep, inspire the careless with thoughtfulness, and quicken the dull; and that he may, on the other hand, tranquilize fearful and anxious minds with an assured and steady confidence.” The thought of remaining in our sins apart from Christ should absolutely terrify us. God intended his commandments (the law) to do this very thing–convict us of our sin. Although we don’t often think of the forgiveness of sins in terms of tranquilizing fearful and anxious minds, that is a great way to put what the gospel does. If we know that our sins are forgiven, then our consciences are quieted, and we can live and die in the light of God’s favor, and live and die without fear of God’s wrath.

In verses 3-5, the Psalmist describes the blessedness of the forgiveness of sins in light of the miserable condition we are in before we confess them. The Psalmist writes from personal experience–and we can all relate to the misery he describes. “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” The Psalmist knows first-hand the misery of unconfessed sin. We’ve all seen people who are “skin and bones” and have a gaunt look, lifeless eyes, and the pallor of sickness. Such people seem spent, they are weak in body, suffer from various maladies, and often have no joy or sense of purpose. David speaks of unconfessed sin as creating a similar condition. Unconfessed sin robs us of our vitality, we feel as though we were wasting away.

The Misery of Unconfessed Sin

David also speaks of groaning all day long—likely inwardly, but not necessarily in silence. Day and night he describes the sense that God’s hand was heavy upon him, never relenting, never easing up, granting David no peace or relief. Like someone whose strength and energy departs from them on a hot, muggy, summer’s day, so too the person with unconfessed sin plods along without relief, with little joy, and every task, even the small ones, seem like an ordeal. Nothing seems right. Nothing works out as it should. Everything feels more difficult and tedious than it really is. This is what unconfessed sin, the corresponding guilt, and the sense that we are under God’s judgment and displeasure does to us. No relief will come until David confesses his sins and pours out his soul unto his Creator-Redeemer.

The Relief of Confession

But in verse 5, David does exactly that. He acknowledges and confesses his sins to YHWH. The same three words for sin he used in verses 1-2 he uses again, only now in a different order. The words he used for forgiveness are replaced by three verbs related to the confession of his sins. First, David acknowledges his sin. He takes full and personal responsibility for them and makes them known, although YHWH already knew them. Second, David does not cover them up. His sins are now exposed and he is naked before the Lord. Third, he confesses his sins to YHWH, who, the Psalmist says, forgave him. There is a basic and fundamental principle here. When we confess our sins, God forgives us.

Now forgiven, and aware of the blessedness of the assurance of God’s favor toward him, in verses 6-7 the Psalmist exhorts all of God’s people to do the same. “Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” The sense here is that suffering the consequences of our actions is a form of discipline. We may feel YHWH’s absence from us, although he never abandons his people, even if he lets us feel like he has departed from us for a time. Or, we may feel the hot breath of his anger in the form of the conviction of sin and the sense of God’s displeasure with us. That too, is a form of chastisement, but not the total abandonment of the sinner to final judgment. A Christian who has not confessed their sins and stubbornly refuses to do so may feel just as the Psalmist describes–like our bones are wasting away, like God’s hand is heavy upon us, and as though our strength is sapped on a hot summer day.

While YHWH Is Near

Notice too that David’s exhortation to the people of God to confess our sins makes clear that although YHWH is always near to his people, there are special times when YHWH may “be found”–i.e., he gives us wisdom to figure out that not confessing our sins leads to the aching bones and summer lethargy described previously. This is why those who trust in Christ (the “godly’) should not delay in confessing their sins. This is also why we should realize that simply continuing on needlessly in the misery which comes from not confessing our sins is utter foolishness. The Psalmist’s words recall to mind the words of Isaiah 55:7-8. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” When we seek the Lord, we will find him because he wants to be “found.” This is especially true when it comes to confession of our sins.

As the Psalmist points out, there are times when the consequences of our sins, or the effects of the sins of others, or even the mysterious providence of God, circumstances threaten to overwhelm us like a rush of mighty water, which in David’s age was a reference to a flash flood coming down one of the narrow desert valleys (wadi) brought on by a sudden rain. The rapidly rising flood waters will not reach those who pray to YHWH when he is “found” (i.e., when he reveals himself to us). YHWH is our hiding place. YHWH preserves us from trouble. YHWH’s faithfulness produces shouts of joy (deliverance) from his people.

Instruction from YHWH

In verse 8, we come to the main point of the Psalm (the middle of the chiasm). After realizing his sins, confessing them, receiving forgiveness, and then calling others to do the same, it is easy to overlook the fact that the speaker, the “I,” is no longer David, but YHWH. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” David quotes these words of YHWH, who now reveals himself as the source of all true wisdom. With the sense of YHWH’s heavy hand removed (the conviction of sin), YHWH graciously instructs his people, teaches his people, and shows us the way we should go. He give us true wisdom. YHWH will counsel us through his word, and metaphorically, he will keep his eye upon us (God doesn’t have eyes). God is ever vigilant in keeping watch over his people. We may sleep, not pay attention, or lose interest, but YHWH never sleeps.

God’s wisdom reminds us not to behave like brute beasts. David exhorts us in verse 9, “be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.” Animals have to be steered and guided to perform useful tasks. To get them to stay on the path you must stick a bridle in their mouths so as to keep them from going off the path. Those who seek and find God’s wisdom do not need bits and bridles. We now have understanding so as to stay on the right path and not wander off into danger.

The Secular Illusion

In verse 10, the Psalmist returns to the theme of misery found earlier in verses 6-7. David says “many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” Those who confess their sins and experience the joy of forgiveness are completely unlike the wicked who ultimately know only sorrow. As Calvin spoke of the forgiveness promised in the gospel as the tranquilization of the conscience because of confidence in God’s promise of pardon, our contemporaries see things much differently. Some actually seek to tranquilize their guilty consciences with tranquilizers. Calvin used the metaphor in terms of someone becoming tranquil (or at peaceful rest) because their conscience was unburdened by sin. Other than alcohol, Calvin knew nothing of modern forms of avoiding a burdened conscience: self-medication, prescribed medication, constant activity, out and out denial of the voice in your head which tells you that all is not right with God. Many attempt to drown out the voice of conscience through the endless pursuit of pleasure, and the avoidance of the realities of life which characterize so much of our culture.

Calvin also knew nothing about the modern phenomena of secularization, wherein people can live their entire lives apart from any sense of God’s existence, without feeling even the slightest hint of conscience that they have sinned against either God or neighbor. The words of the 32nd Psalm ring hollow to people who have never stopped to think about God, that he created them, or that they owe him obedience and that they have sinned against him. Our modern world and all of its technological wonder has created the illusion that there is no God, so people think they have done nothing wrong so long as what they do doesn’t hurt others. In the minds of such secularism, the only thing which creates the sense of weary bones, a lack of strength and energy which the Psalmist connects to sin, is when their cell phone goes dead or their internet connection goes down.

But let calamity come, and the secular illusion will immediately vanish in the light of the reality of a sovereign creator-redeemer who has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ. With that reality will come the frightening realization that human misery is not that one’s electronic gadgets don’t work or that instant gratification and pleasure will be delayed, but that the one who created all things demands perfect obedience of us and that we have sinned against him. Then the true misery of which the Psalmist speaks will confront them, and the blessedness of which the Psalmist speaks (and which we so easily take for granted) will become the great desire and the goal of human existence. The only place where the misery of human sinfulness can be satisfied is to be within bounds of the steadfast love of God which comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Lament

We know this to be true because God has revealed his glories and perfections to all, and people can suppress the truth in unrighteousness for only so long. People can ignore the world, its creator, and their sin, until reality hits them in the face. As Paul tells us in Romans 2:14-15, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” We can live as though there is no God and ignore what our conscience its telling us, but Francis Schaeffer was right when he said we cannot make our own world and then live in it. We live in the world God has made, and so our make-believe world will inevitably collide with his, and his world will win, because his is the world that is (reality).

The lament of Psalm 32, and the thanksgiving which arises from the knowledge that our sins are forgiven, may not mean much to the secularist, but to anyone who has been convicted of their sins by measuring themselves against God’s law, David’s words reveal the wisdom of God, the key to a life well-lived. The people of God are assured through God’s word that we are surrounded by the love of God which is revealed to us through the promises of the gospel. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1John 4:10). When we consider the fact that God’s love for us is prior to our love for him, the exhortation David gives in verse 11 resonates with us at the deepest level of human existence. “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” What else can those who love God’s wisdom do, but rejoice in the blessing of the forgiveness of sin, which are our gracious God has bestowed upon us.

Blessed Is the One . . .

As we conclude, we turn again to Romans 4:1-8, where Paul explains how it is that we are to understand the 32nd Psalm in light of the coming of Jesus Christ and the good news of the Gospel. After discussing how Abraham was reckoned righteous before the Lord, through faith, and apart from works, in verses 4-5 Paul speaks of the way in which the forgiveness of sins comes about. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Those of us whose sins are forgiven are those who have given up trying to save ourselves by our own good works, and who instead look to Jesus Christ, believing that he will forgive us and reckon us righteous. Those who do this, Paul says, are the ungodly, who know our sins and our need of a Savior.

To illustrate what he means, Paul quotes verses 1-2 of the 32nd Psalm. “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: `Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” Our sins are forgiven, covered, and not counted against us when we trust in Jesus Christ. In fact, God reckons any one of us who believes in Jesus as righteous, and upright before the Lord, people who from a grateful heart seek God in times of trouble, who offer shouts and songs of deliverance, who are glad in the Lord, and rejoice. God justifies the ungodly, but he doesn’t leave us there. His specialty is turning the ungodly into the godly.

There is nothing worse than the conviction of sin, which is why people go to such great lengths to ignore the misery unconfessed sin brings upon us. There is nothing better than to hear the words of David as explained by the Apostle Paul, “blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. Indeed, blessed is the one.

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[1] Cited in Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol., 1, 86.

[2] John Calvin, and James Anderson. Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010).

[3] VanGemeran, Psalms, Vol. 5., 310.

[4] VanGemeran, Psalms, Vol. 5., 310-311.

[5] Kidner, Psalms 1-7, 133.

[6] VanGemeran, Psalms, Vol. 5., 310-311.

[7] John Calvin, and James Anderson. Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010).

This is taken from a 1915 article, the "Person of Christ" which was first published in The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, edited by James Orr. It is found in volume 4, pp. 2338-2348, and well-worth reading in its entirety. This essay has been reprinted in The Person and Work of Christ, ed John J. Hughes, published by P & R (2025), 37-74.

Warfield is describing the two natures of Christ as forth by Paul in Philippians 2:5-9. He calls attention to the fact that,

It should be carefully observed also that in making this great affirmation concerning Our Lord, Paul does not throw it distinctively into the past, as if he were describing a mode of being formerly Our Lord's, indeed, but no longer His because of the action by which He became our example of unselfishness. Our Lord, he says, "being," "'existing," "subsisting" "in the form of God" - as it is variously rendered. . . . Paul is not telling us here, then, what Our Lord was once, but rather what He already was, or, better, what in His intrinsic nature He is; he is not describing a past mode of existence of Our Lord, before the action he is adducing as an example took place - although the mode of existence he describes was Our Lord's mode of existence before this action . . . . He is telling us who and what He is who did these things for us, that we may appreciate how great the things He did for us are.

Warfield regards our Lord’s role as messianic servant as key to Paul’s point of application being made to the Philippians. According to the Princetonian, Christ’s divine nature is not “was” or “will be,” but “is.”

So far is Paul from intimating, therefore, that Our Lord laid aside His Deity in entering upon His life on earth, that he rather asserts that He retained His Deity throughout His life on earth, and in the whole course of His humiliation, up to death itself, was consciously ever exercising self-abnegation, living a life which did not by nature belong to Him, which stood in fact in direct contradiction to the life which was naturally His. It is this underlying implication which determines the whole choice of the language in which Our Lord's earthly life is described. It is because it is kept in mind that He still was "in the form of God," that is, that He still had in possession all that body of characterizing qualities by which God is made God, for example, that He is said to have been made, not man, but "in the likeness of man," to have been found, not man, but "in fashion as a man"; and that the wonder of His servanthood and obedience, the mark of servanthood, is thought of as so great. Though He was truly man, He was much more than man; and Paul would not have his readers imagine that He had become merely man. In other words, Paul does not teach that Our Lord was once God but had become instead man; he teaches that though He was God, He had become also man.

Warfield’s final point in this section of his article is that the Lord and creator of all, became a servant by assuming a true human nature in his incarnation.

Our Lord assumed, then, according to Paul, not the mere state or condition or outward appearance of a servant, but the reality; He became an actual "servant" in the world. . . . The Lord of the world became a servant in the world; He whose right it was to rule took obedience as His life-characteristic. . . . [Paul] is speaking of one who, though really man, possessing all that makes a man a man, is yet, at the same time, infinitely more than a man, no less than God Himself, in possession of all that makes God God. Christ Jesus is in his view, therefore (as in the view of his readers, for he is not instructing his readers here as to the nature of Christ's person, but reminding them of certain elements in it for the purposes of his exhortation), both God and man, God who has "assumed" man into personal union with Himself, and has in this His assumed manhood lived out a human life on earth.

Lord willing, Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast will kick off on May 25, 2026. I’ve been hard at work and am excited to get going.

I invite you to give Season Five a listen. If you plan to do so, you have a homework assignment! Please read through the Book of Romans a couple of times, and listen to it read aloud at least once as we get started. Both Martin Luther and John Calvin thought Romans deserves to be read regularly, and even memorized—sound advice!

To help you dig deeper as Season Five gets rolling, I have prepared a Romans Resource page with information about those resources which will aid you in studying this remarkable letter and its contents. Select Resources for the Study of Romans. Perhaps, this will whet your whistle for Season Five? Tell a friend!

The Illusion of Living Forever

We live in an age of remarkable technological advancement. At the touch of a keystroke, the world is at our fingertips via the World Wide Web. When we launch men and women into space, we hardly even pay attention because it has now become so commonplace. We live in a country with more wealth and greater prosperity than any nation the earth has ever known. On average, we live longer than our forebears; we are taller, stronger, and medical science can cure much of what ails us. We have cracked the human genome, and advances in DNA research hold out great hope for curing disease and extending life. As Americans, we are proud, confident, self-sufficient, and beholden to no one.

We live at a time when fifty is the new forty, youth culture dominates, and we act as though we will live forever. Yet behind the facade of life in modern America is the stark reality found at the end of the fourth chapter of James. As James dares to remind us, when viewed from the perspective of eternity, our lives are nothing but a mist (a vapor, he calls it). We appear for only a short time, and then we quickly disappear. While some may take James’s assertion as an expression of the futility of life, nothing could be further from the truth. James is poking a very large hole in sinful human pride and continuing his exhortation that Christians must humble themselves before God. None of us will seek grace unless and until we see our need for grace. This is James’s point in the final verses of chapter 4. The surest way to be humbled is to consider the precarious nature of human life and to be reminded that God determines our future, not we ourselves.

The Certainty of Death

As we continue our exposition of the Book of James, we conclude our time in chapter 4. In this exposition, we will cover verses 13–17, although this passage is actually part of a larger section that runs all the way to James 5:11. A good case can be made for treating this entire section of James at one time, but the point James makes about the fleeting nature of human life in the final verses of chapter 4 is especially important, given the fact that some reading this have recently lost loved ones, reminding us once again of just how short life can be. While we do not like to talk about it, all of this forces us to face our own mortality and to realize that the sovereign God controls our future. More to the point, it is good to be reminded that we must live each day in light of eternity. That is what James is doing here. He is giving us the best possible reason to humble ourselves—in light of eternity, our lives are very short. The truth is that we do not control our destinies; God does.

Even though there is great temptation for us to allow our technological advances and material prosperity to hide the fact that we will not live forever, James reminds us of the stark reality that life can be very short and that God holds our destinies in the palm of His eternal hand. People who think they control their own destinies will have a very hard time humbling themselves or seeing their need to draw near to God. To use James’s terminology, people who think they control their own future will very easily become friends with the world. They are well satisfied with the wisdom of this age. These are people who like to hear, but they never quite get around to doing. Such people do not seek grace from God and remain enslaved to their sinful passions. They see no need to change anything. They have heard, professed, and become remarkably self-sufficient. What more do they think they need to do?

The Importance of Reflecting Upon the Meaning of Life

When people live with false attitudes about life and the reality of death, they are often jealous of others and seek their own way, even if that means leaving their footprints on the backs of others. Such people—despite their profession of faith in Christ—think nothing of causing quarrels or murdering others in their hearts. They have no interest whatsoever in reaping the harvest of righteousness that James mentions as one of the wonderful blessings the Lord is willing to grant His people. In fact, such people—those whom James calls “sinners,” “enemies of God,” and “adulterers”—even use the law of God as a self-righteous club against struggling sinners, all the while breaking the very same commandments they accuse others of not keeping. Christians must fight against our sinful passions. Doers of the Word will prove their faith in Christ through those good works performed because God has brought them forth through the Word and then planted that Word within them.

As we saw in the opening verses of this epistle, the churches of the Dispersion were facing all kinds of persecution and difficult trials. In the face of these difficult circumstances, members of these churches were discriminating against the poor while favoring the rich. James exhorts believers to tame their tongues, to seek wisdom from above, to resist the devil with the truth of the gospel, and to humble themselves before the Lord.

James must remind these struggling Christians that God has not called them to suffer these trials only to leave them on their own. If they draw near to God, He will draw near to them. If they resist the devil, he will flee from them. If they seek wisdom from God, He will give it to them without measure or limit. Of course, as we have seen, all of these things are found in Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God and in whom the grace of God is poured out upon us. All of this, James says, depends upon looking outside ourselves to the mercies of Christ. In light of this, James now reminds us why we must humble ourselves—life is short, and God controls our destinies. Clearly, this is the best reason we have to humble ourselves and renounce the kind of self-reliance that sees no need to draw near to God and receive grace.

Self-Reliance—Properly Understood

Before we go any further, it is important to qualify my comments about self-reliance. Of course, if we are able-bodied, Scripture directs us to work hard, to provide for ourselves and our families, and not to be dependent upon others. In this sense, self-reliance is a virtue and stands in sharp contrast to laziness and sloth. But the point James is making is that a virtue like self-reliance can easily become a vice. If and when we allow our sense of self-reliance to become an attitude grounded in independence from God, then we no longer think we need God’s help, nor do we thank Him for our daily bread as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. Because we take care of ourselves, we forget about God.

As a Christian virtue, self-reliance means utilizing that which God has given us (health, jobs, vocations, personal gifts, etc.) in such a way that we acknowledge our dependence upon God while fulfilling our personal obligations. But a spirit of self-reliance can easily obscure our sense of dependence upon God. A self-reliant person will continually struggle to trust in and depend upon God’s gracious provision. The virtue becomes a vice when we forget that all we are and all we have come to us from the hand of a gracious God. When we become so self-reliant that we develop an attitude of independence from God, or when we become apathetic in acknowledging our need for His gracious provision, then we engage in the very conduct James challenges in the following verses.

Self-Sufficiency Does Not Eliminate Humility

With that in mind, let us dig into our text, James 4:13–17. At first glance, it is hard to connect this section at the end of James 4 with what James says in the previous verses. But the theme of the passage is simply a continuation of James’s prior exhortation that Christians humble themselves before God. Since James identifies an exaggerated sense of self-reliance as one of the chief obstacles to proper humility, in the section following this one (the opening verses of chapter 5), James returns to address the conduct of the rich—those who were relying upon their wealth to sustain them in troubled times. As James goes on to say, these are people who were neglecting to come to the aid of the poor, who, because of difficult times, were going without the essentials of life. Those who have much in the way of material goods and comfort are oftentimes insulated from the suffering of others. Those who have much often have a difficult time humbling themselves when it appears to them that they have the resources to control their own destinies.

The irony is that the issue James tackles in verses 13–17 regarding a self-sufficient independence associated with the wealthy merchants and landowners of his age applies to just about everybody in modern America. In these verses, James speaks of travel plans (typical of the merchants, traders, and landowners throughout Palestine), as well as striving to earn a profit, something also associated with merchants and landowners. Ironically, these same things are on the minds of virtually every modern American worker and family as we enter a period of economic uncertainty. While these concerns in James’s day could be directly associated with the more affluent (who will come under additional criticism in chapter 5), they are commonplace for us as we plan our lives, scurry here and there, and oftentimes become completely preoccupied with the business of life. Under such circumstances, we lose the biblical perspective on life—that it is short and controlled by God—and we act as self-sufficiently and independently from God as those whom James is writing to correct.

Our Destiny Is in the Lord's Hands

In verses 13-14, James pops the bubble of this kind of self-sufficiency. "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring." People who are overly busy and preoccupied with carrying out the plans they make never once stop to consider that God–not they–controls their futures and their eternal destinies. Despite all our best efforts to control our futures, not one of us truly knows what tomorrow will bring. Covid changed everything for a time about life in America. We were a different nation on September 10, 2001, than we were on September 12, 2001. John F. Kennedy had no idea, as he rode in his motorcade through Dallas on November 22, 1963, that he would never give his prepared speech at the Dallas Trade Mart, and that he was about to enter eternity. Little did Lyndon Johnson know that on the morning of November 22, that he would retire to bed that evening as the President of the United States, having endured the longest, most stressful day of his life, and now leading a nation in a time of national emergency and tragedy. I could go on, but you get the point. We may boast in our plans, see our activity as a mark of success and piety, and yet not one of us knows what will happen tomorrow. This is what it means to be a creature, bound to both time and space. The reality is that our knowledge is very limited.

In these verses, James reminds us of what we all know to be true but don't like to face. We make all kinds of plans for our lives, our businesses, our day-to-day routines, and our long-term futures. We must. But despite all the planning, not one of us can say what tomorrow will bring. The very thought of not knowing what will happen tomorrow creates a fair bit of anxiety. That is, until we consider something absolutely fundamental to the Christian faith. The same God who called us forth through His word, implanted that word within us, and has given us faith in Jesus Christ also knows what tomorrow holds, because He is the author of tomorrow. The same God who created us has numbered our days. We may not know what tomorrow will bring, but we certainly know who will bring tomorrow.

Thankfully, the Lord, Not We, Are in Control

As Jesus puts it in Matthew 6:24, “therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Our Lord Jesus, who is wisdom incarnate, who has died for our sins, and who was raised for our justification, and who does know what the future holds for us, tells us not to be worried about it. Our Lord knows how we struggle to understand those things which are beyond our grasp. Jesus knows the fear in our hearts because of our uncertainty about tomorrow. And Jesus tells us not to worry. Why? Because he is the Lord of the future. His purposes for us and for our lives will be realized. That is why we are not to be anxious about the future.

Clearly then, James raises the subject of the future in the context of his exhortation back in verse 10 to “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Indeed, nothing can drive us to a proper humility before God than the simple reminder that while we may plan for tomorrow and then go about our business, we have no idea what the future will bring. We don’t even know what this afternoon will bring. That is why a little humility on our part is in order. We do not control the future, God does.

James now asks an even more pointed question. “What is your life?” While we may take comfort in the fact that the average life-span in America is about seventy-nine years of age, from the vantage point of eternity, seventy-nine years of age is not very long. In fact, as James goes on to say, a long life pales in comparison to eternity. “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Now, we need to be clear here. James is not in any sense saying that we are worthless or that life is pointless. We must understand what James say here in light of Psalm 139, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. As James says earlier, we are created in God’s image and therefore have great value (3:9). But James is reminding us that the wages of sin is death, and while seventy-nine years seems like a long time to us, the reality is that seventy-nine years is not all that long–especially when viewed from God’s perspective.

Life Is Short in Light of Eternity

No doubt, James is echoing the words of Psalm 90:10, when the Psalmist says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” James sounds a bit like Job, when in the seventh chapter of Job, Job laments, “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.” Life is short and will end. Eternity is a very long time.

If I may, this truth hit me in the face while I was doing research on my family history. I discovered that my great-grandfather, Albert Riddlesbarger, who died in 1932 was buried in Covina, CA. When I found his grave (he is buried next to his wife, and my great-grandmother, Paulina), I noticed that Albert had been buried for several years longer than he had lived. No one in my family remembered his name, who he was, or even where he had lived (Idaho and Kansas) before coming to California. I was greatly moved by the inscription on their headstone, “until he comes,” a reference to our Lord’s second advent. Later, I found a old church record which identified them as “Bert and Lina,” told how fun-loving they were, and how beloved they were in their Grace Brethren church, where Albert was the chorister. I am certain that no one had visited their grave for many years.

It hit me, that no one living on earth could recall knowing them. Other than me, no even cared that they ever lived. Yet, they are loved by God and in the presence of Christ “until he comes.” This is what James is pointing out to us when he says we are but a mist. We live for but a short time, and then we vanish soon to be forgotten. Yet, if we are Christ’s, when we die, we enter his presence, and he knows us and never forgets us. This is why we must humble ourselves and drawn near to God. But this is the very thing that the self-sufficient have so much trouble seeing. At some point, youth and self-reliance comes to an end. Death is the great un-doer of spirit of independence.

If the Lord Wills

Since life is short, James reminds us, “Instead you ought to say, `If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” While God expects us to go about our business, and to make those day to day plans associated with living our lives, James now gives us that proper perspective which enables us to be self-reliant, yet without becoming independent from God and turning self-reliance into a vice. James reminds all of us that instead of boasting, we should get into the habit of acknowledging that everything we do depends upon the will and purposes of God. “If the Lord wills, we will do this or that.” While life itself is uncertain because we do not know what tomorrow holds, the fact of the matter is that what will happen tomorrow is a certainty because God has willed all things. Once again, James is drawing upon the words of Jesus, who told us in the Lord’s Prayer that this how we should pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.” The idea that everything depends upon the will of God was certainly not foreign to James original audience, primarily composed of Jewish Christians.[1]

But as modern Americans, who pride ourselves on our technology and self-sufficiency, the idea that God wills everything strikes many as a threat to human freedom. This sounds like an old Victorian dogma that went out with the advent of radio. James invokes the doctrine of God’s providence–that God foreordains whatsoever comes to pass–as a means of humbling us, so that we seek to draw near to God so as to receive grace. It is important to take a moment and unpack the ramifications of James’s comment. God’s sovereignty is not a threat to our freedom, yet it is a reality which should bring a healthy dose of realism to those who live like tomorrow was something in our control.

To begin with, the fact that God is in control of the future is intended to bring us great comfort–not make us fearful or to paralyze us. That God (not us) is in control means that our future is not left to chance, nor to fate, nor to ourselves, or even to others. When we are told we are but a mist–here today and gone tomorrow–that declaration is intended to humble us. When we are told that God foreordains the future, that declaration reminds us that the future is in very good hands. We know this to be true by simply looking back at redemptive history, and observing how God has always kept his promises, and how he has always turned evil into good on behalf of his people. While we may not know what tomorrow holds, we do know that God has ordained it. So as we plan our lives, and go about our business, we proceed as we must, knowing that whatever happens, God has ordained it and will turn all evil to our good. This is why Christians need not live in fear, nor fear whatever the future might hold.

The Wisdom Of Our Fathers in the Faith

The Heidelberg Catechism speaks directly to this subject in questions 26-28 (Lord’s Day Nine and Ten).

Lord’s Day 9

Q 26. What do you believe when you say: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?”

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of nothing made heaven and earth with all that in them is, who likewise upholds, and governs the same by His eternal counsel and providence, is for the sake of Christ, His Son, my God and my Father, in whom I so trust as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul; and further, that whatever evil He sends upon me in this troubled life, He will turn to my good; for He is able to do it, being Almighty God, and willing also, being a faithful Father

Lord’s Day 10

Q 27. What do you understand by the providence of God?

A. The almighty, everywhere-present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.

Q. 28. What does it profit us to know that God created, and by His providence upholds, all things?

A. That we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and for what is future have good confidence in our faithful God and Father, that no creature shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move.

The fact that God wills the future should make us supremely confident about tomorrow, as we submit all our plans to God. “If the Lord wills,” then what we’ve planned will come to pass. If God has other plans for tomorrow than the ones we’ve made, then so be it, his will be done. Therefore, whenever we affirm, `If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that,” we are affirming the goodness of our heavenly father, who loves us, and has promised to provide us with all good things. When we affirm “if the Lord wills,” we are also renouncing that form of independent self-sufficiency to which we are so prone.

Human Arrogance, Again

As we come to verse 16, it is now clear that James is dealing with human pride throughout this entire section. “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” Because we are sinful and don’t like to submit our plans to the will of one greater than we are, we push God out of our lives (consciously or otherwise). Instead, we trust in our technology, or our self-sufficiency, and we forget that all good things come to us from the hand of a gracious and sovereign God. If we heed James’s reminder that we do not know what tomorrow holds, that we are but vapors who are here today and gone tomorrow, then we see the foolishness of arrogantly boasting about our plans as though we were sovereign. In fact, James even says it is a sin to boast in ourselves, our plans, our self-reliance. It is a sin, because the degree to which we trust in our own plans, is the degree to which we do not trust in God’s sovereign control of the future. It is not only sin, it is foolishness.

While the final verse in this section (verse 17) seems awkward and out of place here–“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin”–the fact of the matter is that mentioning sins of omission fits very naturally here. Those who do not humble themselves, those who do not seek God, those who do not resist the devil, those who boast about tomorrow, have failed to do the right thing, and therefore have sinned. There is no excuse for a Christian not to humble themselves, especially in light of all that James has said here. There is no excuse for a Christian to fail to seek grace when we so desperately need more grace. There is no excuse for not resisting the lies and heresies of the devil. And because we are but vapors, there is no excuse for planning for tomorrow without submitting our plans unto God through our prayers, as Jesus instructs to do us in the Lord’s Prayer.

What Do We Say By Way of Application?

Beloved, not one of us knows what tomorrow holds. We do not know what the Lord has planned for tomorrow, for next week, for one year, for the rest of our lives. But we know that God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. And so let us heed James’s exhortation by submitting all of our plans and aspirations to the Lord with the simple prayer, “if the Lord wills.” This is in keeping with not only these words from James, but also with the prayer taught us by Jesus.

While we may not know what the Lord wills for the future, we know that it was God’s will for Jesus to die for all of our sins and then be raised up Lord of life. We know that it was God’s will to call us to faith in Christ, implant his word within us, and then bring forth those good works which are the evidence that God is accomplishing his purposes in our lives. So, when we pray “if the Lord wills” we pray that prayer with the confidence that God has already willed the best for us in the person of his Son. In Christ, God has given us all we will ever need despite the uncertainties of tomorrow.

In looking back upon what God has done for us in Christ, suddenly the fear and uncertainty of future vanishes in light of the blood and righteousness of Christ. This is why the prayer “if the Lord wills” is not prayer of despair and anxiety, but a prayer offered in the confidence of faith. It is a prayer framed by the cross of cross and the glories of the empty tomb. It is a prayer through which we humble ourselves, so as to receive grace, more grace. Amen.

Article 8: The Certainty of This Preservation

So it is not by their own merits or strength but by God’s undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen; but with respect to God it cannot possibly happen, since his plan cannot be changed, his promise cannot fail, the calling according to his purpose cannot be revoked, the merit of Christ as well as his interceding and preserving cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out.

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Throughout the preceding articles under the fifth head of doctrine, the authors of the Canons are responding to what appears to be undeniable evidence that professing Christians can truly lose their current salvation. Arminians appeal to two lines of evidence. The first is the obvious fact that baptized and professing members of Christian churches can and do fall away. Such is the reality of church life. We all know people who make a profession of faith, are baptized, and appear to bear the genuine fruit of Christian conversion—attendance at worship and support of the church’s work through the giving of gifts and time (sweat equity).

But sometimes suddenly, and often more slowly, such people cease to do these things. They stop attending church or begin doing or believing things that contradict the Scriptures. These people refuse to heed the admonitions of church officers and attempt to justify their sinful actions, even when their thinking and conduct are openly contrary to the teaching of Scripture. There are as many reasons why this happens as there are people who turn their backs upon Christ and reject him and his church. Arminians, then and now, can point to such instances and argue that this is proof that current believers can fall into sin and be lost.

A second argument raised by the Arminians grows out of the preceding point. This is why, they say, the Scriptures so pointedly warn Christians to persevere to the end in order to be saved. Why else would the biblical authors repeatedly warn God’s people that such a thing is a real possibility?

As we have seen in articles one through seven under this fifth head of doctrine, the Canons do indeed acknowledge that professing Christians can fall into serious sins because of the weakness of the flesh, the temptations of the world, and the deception of Satan. Since the habits of sin and the corruption of human nature remain after regeneration, all Christians will feel the pull to act upon their sinful propensities (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14–25).

Furthermore, the Canons make the point that this happened to a number of biblical saints (most notably David and Peter) and that it was God’s kindness that led them to repentance and full restoration (Romans 2:4). Those among God’s elect who fall into such serious sin may indeed suffer the chastisement and fatherly discipline of God and may suffer temporal loss and hardship as a consequence of their actions. The biblical warnings are therefore to be taken seriously, and care must be taken not to let such serious sins bring ruin upon one’s life. The Canons address this point openly: “With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen.” But it does not, because “it is not by their own merits or strength but by God’s undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost.”

Therefore, the primary difference between the Reformed and Arminian views regarding the perseverance of the saints is that the Reformed understand the perseverance of the elect in light of the ongoing work of Jesus Christ in his prophetic, priestly, and kingly offices, along with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (who secures our full and complete redemption—Ephesians 1:13–14).

Ultimately, the elect persevere because Christ and the indwelling Spirit preserve them. This is the point being made here in article eight: God does not begin his work in us only so that we can provoke him not to continue it. The Canons get this right: “The merit of Christ as well as his interceding and preserving cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out.”

Much of the biblical evidence for this has been cited in the previous articles, but several important texts should be mentioned here. In 1 John 2:1–2, we read, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Clearly, Jesus is the advocate (as Paraclete—or defense attorney) for all those for whom he dies. We addressed this matter previously in the first refutation of errors under the second head of doctrine, but it should be repeated here:

Jesus is the advocate, or defense attorney, for all those for whom he dies. John clearly indicates that Jesus intercedes for those for whom he dies. If he dies for all without exception, he intercedes for all without exception. But consider the following dilemma raised by the Arminian notion of a conditional and provisory salvation: Can Jesus’s prayers go unanswered by the Father? Can Jesus pray for someone and not have the Father answer the prayer of his own dear Son? Indeed, let us not forget that John has already noted that our Lord does not pray for the world generically (John 17:9), but only for those given to him by the Father.

We see this point made again in Luke 22:31–32, when Jesus tells Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Even though Peter later denied Christ at his trial before the high priest, and the rooster crowed as Jesus said it would, Peter’s faith did not fail. Why? Jesus prayed for him. And lest we forget, it was Jesus who said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).

Finally, in the so-called “golden chain of salvation” (Romans 8:28-30), Paul writes,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

For those called according to God’s purpose (the elect) that chain is unbreakable. God will save all those chosen in Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The elect do certainly persevere because the one who died for them, also preserves them.

Here’s a brief summary of those biblical signs indicating that the end of the age and the Lord’s return is at hand.

Note: I discuss these signs in greater detail in my book, A Case for Amillennialism, and in an episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast entitled “Signs of the End.”

1. The gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth.

In Matthew 24:14 Jesus tells us, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” This is the one sign which indicates that Christ’s church can hasten the Lord’s return by taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

2. The salvation of “all Israel.”

In Romans 11:25-26, Paul writes “lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved.” I present and defend my view that Paul is speaking here of large number of Jews becoming believers in Jesus in the days immediately before our Lord’s return. See my A Case for Amillennialism and this episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast, What Does the Future Hold for Israel? A Look at Romans 9-11.

3. The appearance of the Antichrist and a time of great apostasy.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul speaks of two events which precede the Lord’s return—a time of great apostasy, which connected to the appearance of the Man of Sin (i.e., “the Antichrist”), the final eschatological enemy of the church. These have not yet occurred.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul writes:

2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I understand Revelation 20:7-10 to be a parallel passage to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Just as Paul does in the passage above, in Revelation 20:1-10, John speaks of the binding of Satan (in the present age) as does Paul when he speaks of a restrainer currently in place although the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Both John and Paul speak of a release of Satan and increase in satanic power, deception, and horrific persecution, occurring immediately before the Lord’s return in judgment, when Satan and his henchmen are cast into the Lake of Fire.

4. The destruction of “Babylon the Great” — The City of Man (Revelation 18)

There are a number of references to Babylon found in the New Testament. In Matthew 1:11-12, 17, the city appears in the genealogy of Jesus, emphasizing the exile theme in the opening chapters of his Gospel. In 1 Peter 5:13, the city is mentioned again, and is almost certainly a reference to Rome, from which Mark’s gospel was likely written. Just as Babylon oppressed the Jewish exiles, so too Rome was persecuting Christians living in the city. Nero put both Peter and Paul to death during the so-called Neronian persecution. Even throughout the later chapters of Revelation (Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; and 18:2, 10, 21), the ancient city of Babylon is symbolic of first-century Rome.

Rome is pictured as “the notorious prostitute, who sits upon the many waters.” She was gorgeously arrayed like a queen, sitting on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. She was “drunk with the blood of the saints,” and on her forehead was written: “Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s abominations” 17:1–6). An angel helps to interpret the apocalyptic symbolism for John (Rev 17:1–18). The “many waters” symbolize nations and peoples. The “seven heads” are seven mountains, which most commentators view as representing the seven hills of Rome. Seven times Babylon is called “the great city” and is described as a dreadfully immoral center of wealth and commerce, ruling over the kings of the earth, and especially persecuting the saints of God. The wickedness personified in Babylon clearly symbolizes the historic manifestation of iniquity in first century Rome.

But Revelation 18 completes the picture. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” (v. 2). God’s final judgment upon this new Babylon will be severe, repaying her “double for her deeds” (v. 6). The main reason for her destruction is her immorality and persecution of the saints (19:2). The kings and merchants of the earth will mourn her demise (18:9–19), but the pronouncement is made in order that the saints might rejoice and worship God (v. 20; 19:1–10).

Babylon is first century Rome, yet it also epitomizes the city of man across time, whether the city of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) or Caesar (Rome). These historical references are symbolic of the various “cities of man” which will rise up threaten the church throughout the inter-advental age. Hitler’s “thousand year Reich” was one of these. There have been many more, and perhaps more to come. But the city of man— “Babylon the Great” in all its varieties and iterations will fall before or on the day when the Lord returns.

What About the Tension Between Imminence and a Delay Regarding Christ’s Second Coming?

1. This tension is a characteristic of New Testament eschatology – the already/not yet.

2. A series of signs clearly precede the end (Matthew 24:32). “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

3. Yet, the Lord can return suddenly with great surprise (Matthew 24:37-44).

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

4. The tension between signs preceding the end and suddenness of the Lord’s return is intentional.

This prevents date-setting. No one knows the date or the hour (Matthew 24:36)—“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

This tension also prevents idleness. We must watch! (Matthew 24:42-44). “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Therefore, the complex of events associated with the end can come to pass very quickly. Birth pains can lead to delivery in short order–the final apostasy, the rise of an Antichrist figure, the conversion of the Jews, etc., can all come to pass very rapidly (in months, not years).

Geerhardus Vos is correct, when he writes that the best interpreter of some of these events is their fulfillment.[1]

God’s people will know it when we see it. The events of the end times are said to be sudden, cataclysmic, yet filled with the hope of our Lord’s promise to return to deliver his people and grant their their full inheritance in Jesus Christ. And this he will do.

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(1). Vos writes, [the prophecy of Antichrist] belongs among the many prophecies, whose best and final exegete will be the eschatological fulfillment, and in regard to which it behooves the saints to exercise a peculiar kind of eschatological patience. The idea of Antichrist in general and that of the apostasy in particular ought to warn us, although this may not have been the proximate purpose of Paul, not to take for granted an uninterrupted progress of the cause of Christ through all ages on toward the end. The making all things right and new in the world depend not on gradual amelioration but on the final interposition of God. Geerhardus Vos, The Pauline Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 133-135.

Gerhoh of Reichersberg (1093-1169) was a German reformist theologian nicknamed “scholasticus.” He composed a tract in 1162, on the Antichrist (De investigatione Anti-Christi libri III). In another treatise, The Fourth Watch of the Night (1167), Gerhoh used the imagery of the four watches to explain the course of Christian history. The first watch, he claimed, was the church during the days of persecution by the Romans—the “Bloody Antichrist.” The fourth watch was the age of the “Avaricious Antichrist,” a metaphor for the corruption and simony he encountered in the Roman church of his day.[1]

The contents of Gerhoh’s tract dealing with the age after the fall of Antichrist has been summarized by Brett Whalen in his 2010 book, Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages.

“Just as he had done with Peter, however, Christ would stretch out his hand to the Apostolic See, rescuing the papacy before it was completely submerged. A newly spiritualized papacy would take up the fight against Antichrist, resuming and consummating the reform of the Church before the time of the end. This vision of a renewed and purified papacy anticipated one of the more popular apocalyptic ideas of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: the hope for a future “angelic” pope, who would rid the Church of corruption and unify the people of the world under the Christian faith” (Whalen, 97).

Gerhoh’s interpretation of the papacy as the center of redemptive history anticipated an odd sort of postmillennial papal reign, which would begin after the defeat of the Antichrist. The “angelic pope” never came. And Gerhoh’s hopes for a world under Romanism would be spoiled by the appearance of a Czech Reformer, Jan Hus (1368-1415), followed nearly one hundred years later by Martin Luther (1483–1546).

Huss and Luther also wanted a renewed and purified papacy, just not the one expected by Gerhoh, which has still not progressed much beyond the one described in Gerhoh’s “fourth watch.” No papal utopia has yet dawned—only a Protestant Reformation and recovery of the gospel.

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[1] Bernard McGinn, Antichrist: Two Thousand Years of Human Fascination With Evil (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 122-124.

Who Said That?

I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it. "All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ!

Please leave your guess in the comments section using the link below.  Please no google searches or cheating. Don’t ruin it for everyone else!

Answer: This is from Urban II’s Speech at Council of Clermont (1095) initiating the first crusade. No matter what you do, you will recieve the full remission of your sins.

“Antichrist” as a Political Label

Calling your political foe the “Antichrist” has strayed so far from the biblical data that the practice has become flat-out ridiculous.

Once the political food fight—now a standard feature of countless podcasts and social media—began in earnest, it was necessary to find an unflattering label to slap on your opponent (or their tribe), so as to either marginalize them or tag them with an easily identifiable but obvious pejorative moniker.

Early labels were simply “left-wing,” or “right wing,” echoing the partisan labels based on where people sat in the French National Assembly during the Revolution. On the right, we heard the pejoratives used of Democrats and their supporters: “drive by media,” “libs,” and “environmentalist wackos.” Not to be outdone, the left managed to change the meaning of “conservative” (of which I am one, of the Reagan, limited government variety), into a term of derision. According to the liberal left, “conservatives” dislike minorities, women, reject science, are suspicious of progress, and renounce all forms of libertine sexual freedom and cultural expression. Conservatives are thought to be Bible-thumping backwater Christian fundamentalists (and almost always hypocrites) by the non-religious “others” who don’t know enough about Christianity to make any sort of accurate determination about what Christians actually believe and practice.

Then came Trump and MAGA. If you liked Trump, MAGA was doing the Lord’s work. If you didn’t like Trump, MAGA became something to decry as the identifier of all things detestable. The MAGA hat was now the ultimate declaration of one’s political fealty to Trump. To the left, wearing one was seen as an offensive insult needing to be ripped off the wearer’s head.

When the edginess of those labels wore off, both sides needed new “bad words” to define the other side. This whole process reminds me of the showdown between the two competing baseball teams in the beloved movie, The Sandlot. In a famous scene, the teams hurl insults at each other until one of them drops the bombshell, “you play ball like a girl.” There is no greater insult possible. There was nothing left to say. With the use of “Antichrist” as a political label, we have come to a similar dead-end.

The Democrats went from being called “liberals” to being labeled “woke” and haters of America. MAGA supporters were, in turn, called “racists” and “fascists.” The latter label was a feeble attempt to echo Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (which critiques both Hitler and Lenin). In the eyes of many on the left, MAGA was framed as a resurgence of fascism—with the embarrassing twist that many who used the term could not clearly identify its origins or historical meaning. Trump was compared to Adolf Hitler by those with little knowledge of actual Nazi atrocities, beyond recognizing Hitler as one of the worst figures in recent history; and so his name was thrown at Trump as just another in a series of escalating bad words.

But like all other attempts to demonize your opponents, labels lose their edge over time with frequent use. If “racist” no longer created the desired shame, if “fascist” lost its punch, and since calling Trump “Hitler” fails the historical smell test, as MAGA began to fracture, a new “baddest of all” label was needed for its leader by those now disenchanted and who left the movement.

I don’t know who first dared to use the term “Antichrist” of Trump,[1] but once the sycophantic Tucker Carlson turned on the President, and the other pejoratives had lost their bite, it was only a matter of time before Carlson publicly identified Trump as “the Antichrist.” He wasn’t the first, he won’t be the last, but his affirmation has garnered the most publicity and caused the most outrage and consternation.

The Antichrist of Pop Culture and the Antichrist of Scripture

Let me be clear. These are not the same two individuals. The “Antichrist” of pop-culture is a figment of the imagination of filmmakers, novelists, and musicians, all of whom are looking for an occult angle to titillate and frighten consumers (so as to sell product, of course), while at the same time, making vague reference to the biblical figure about whom they know nothing about except that the designation “Antichrist” is found somewhere in the Bible.

Much of the pop culture “Antichrist” draws loosely upon widely-popular dispensational conceptions of the end-times, especially a supposed seven-year peace treaty with Israel, the cataclysmic Battle of Armageddon, and the nefarious use of AI technology to rule the world by preventing people from engaging in ordinary commerce (the latter associated with the Mark of the Beast). In his recent history of dispensationalism, Daniel Hummel makes an important distinction between a more scholarly variety of dispensationalism, and a “pop” version, devoted to end times punditry and speculation. While I am critical of the former, those who push the pop culture Antichrist (like Carlson’s slapping the label on Trump) co-opt the term from pop dispensational punditry and then further distort something already distorted.

There are three Antichrist threads in the New Testament, which, when considered together, make clear that any derivation of the “pop culture” Antichrist thrown about as a political label is a complete fiction conjured up by those who have likely never opened the pages of a New Testament nor have ever studied what Scripture actually says about our end-times foe.

It may come as a shock—if the advocates of the pop culture Antichrist even care at all—that the term “Antichrist” never appears in the Book of Revelation. It is only used in John’s epistles—and when it is used, it is in reference to first century heretics who possessed the spirit of Antichrist because they denied that Jesus was God in the flesh. In this vein, Jesus and the apostles repeatedly warn of false doctrine and false Christs. These kind of Antichrists have come and gone ever since. Therefore, I seriously doubt that Tucker Carlson means to call Trump a proto-Gnostic Christological heretic when he slaps the “Antichrist” label on him—although, from what we know of his understanding of Christian doctrine, Trump very likely has a deficient, if any, notion of biblical Christology.

Another “Antichrist” thread in the biblical data is the “Man of Sin,” to whom Paul the Apostle refers in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12. This individual is a self-deifier who deceives the people of God through false signs and wonders, and whose appearance is tied to a time of great apostasy, followed by our Lord’s return at the end of the age. When Jesus returns, the dead are raised, all the inhabitants of the world are judged, and God ushers in a new heaven and a new earth. Although Christians debate whether the temple to which Paul refers is a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem (unlikely, in my opinion) or the church (more likely), this “Man of Sin” is presently being restrained. When the time comes for the Lord to lift that restraint, the people of God will face great persecution led by this individual, they will be subject to satanic deception, and have only this remaining hope: unless the Lord returns—and he will—God’s people would perish from the earth. So no, the political name-calling associated with the pop-culture Antichrist cannot even remotely be derived from Paul’s “Man of Sin.”

Then, there is the beast and false prophet of the Book of Revelation. In an obvious parody of the Trinity, the dragon (Satan) empowers the beast (the Roman state) and the false prophet (the successive Caesars and their henchmen) to wage war on the followers of Jesus. The crime committed by these Christians is to confess that “Jesus is Lord.” But that confession is at the same time a denial that Caesar is. The Roman Caesar (and those in his wake across time) hate the Christian confession of the Lordship of Christ and see it as a subversive threat to their tenuous power.

The obvious villain in John’s apocalypse is Nero, who put both Paul and Peter to death, and who may just be one of the most vile human beings who has ever lived—despite recent attempts by some historians to claim, “he wasn’t really that bad . . .” Although Nero met his end in 68 CE, his death is not the end of the story. In John’s vision, Nero’s evil presence becomes a picture for the people of God of the kind of rage-filled persecutors of the church who will arise throughout the inter-advental age, until a final Nero-like figure appears at the end of the age, only to be struck down by our Lord at his return and immediately cast into the Lake of Fire. When the Lord releases Satan from the abyss, this final Antichrist will appear. The situation will become so dire that no one then living could possibly entertain the thought that any American politician matches John’s description. This figure is evil incarnate, with no restraints until his final destruction, when, on bended knee, he too confesses that “Jesus is Lord.”

Therefore, the threat of a rising persecuting state (statism) and its leader (an Antichrist) is an ever-present concern for Christians—and one to which the label “Antichrist” might, in some cases, legitimately apply. But the biblical figure of the Antichrist (unlike the pop-culture version) is one who wages war against the people of God and succeeds in killing and persecuting many. Some Islamic groups (such as ISIS, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Boko Haram) might fit that description, but the horrors wrought by this evil figure will occur on a much, much, larger scale. In that light, no American politician can, including the nearly eighty-year-old, term-limited, and fading Donald Trump.

So, enough already of the silly slapping of the pop-cultural “Antichrist” label on your political opponents. When you do so, you say far about yourself than you do about your opponent.

Resources on the Biblical Antichrist here at the Riddleblog

The Man of Sin (2006): The Biblical Doctrine of Antichrist: My 2006 book on the subject

A Case for Amillenialism: My 2013 book on the subject which includes biblical and historical data alluded to above.

Antichrist Speculation Is Nothing New: At the of the first millennium (850 CE) a French monk penned a treatise on the life and times of the Antichrist, which introduced or reaffirmed much of what Christians currently believe about our arch-foe.

Scoffers Will Come: You Can Bet on It: popular betting markets now include end times speculation

AI and Recent Antichrist Speculation: What do tech gurus think about AI and its ability to empower a pop culture Antichrist

Hitler as an Antichrist Figure: Hitler hated Christ, his church, and his people, He is an Antichrist figure.

666 and the Mark of the Beast: Why Antichrist is a present threat (not just future) to Christ’s church

The Binding of Satan: How can there be so much evil in the world of the devil is bound?

On the Staying Power of Dispensationalism: If dispensational pundits keep making predictions which don’t come to pass, why do people still follow them?

Louis Berkhof on the Historical Development of the Church's Doctrine of the Antichrist: Christians have thought about these things for a long time.

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[1] There are several books making a case that Barack Obama was the Antichrist. The author of one of them sent me a copy since he quotes me favorably. Uh . . . thanks, but no thanks . . . the author shall remain nameless.